Powers and Functions — Legal Reforms

Entry	Year	Description	Impact
Jan Vishwas 2023	2023	The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 changes the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 through section 2 and Schedule entry 24. The substituted provisions include section 15D, providing an appeal to the National Green Tribunal against an adjudicating officer’s order. The text specifies sixty days from receipt of the order, a ten-percent penalty deposit, and power to confirm, modify or set aside the order after hearing the parties. The appellate route is created through the environmental statute; it is not a re-enactment of the NGT Act.	Separate the officer who imposes an administrative penalty from the tribunal that hears the appeal. In a hypothetical case with a Rs. 2 lakh penalty, ten percent is Rs. 20,000; that deposit is not a second Rs. 2 lakh penalty or the final outcome of the appeal. Section 15C(5) also keeps the specified penalties additional to liability for relief or compensation under the NGT Act. This entry describes the 2023 amending text. Commencement notifications and applicable procedural rules must be checked for a particular case because the Act allows different commencement dates for different enactments.