National President  – Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel
Born: 7th July, 1953 : Completed Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel is former judge, Supreme Court of India and former Chairperson, National Green Tribunal (NGT) India. 

He was elevated directly from the Bar as Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, one of the largest High Courts in the country, with jurisdiction over two States and one Union Territory, on 02.07.2001. From 2.5.2011, he was appointed Acting Chief Justice in this High Court.

From 12.9.2011, Justice Goel was transferred as the senior most judge to the Gauhati High Court (with jurisdiction over seven States at the time), followed by appointment as the Acting Chief Justice and then from 20.12.2011, as the Chief Justice. From 12.10.2013, Justice Goel served as Chief Justice, Orissa High Court.

On 7.7.2014, he was elevated to the Supreme Court of India. At the Supreme Court, Justice Goel also led the ‘Arrears Committee’ for reducing the pendency of litigation.

Justice Goel authored a large number of judgments in the High Courts and Supreme Court, many of which are groundbreaking decisions leading to institutional reforms. In the field of Arbitration, judgements to which Justice Goel is party include issues of jurisdiction, scope of interference by court, interpretation, extent to which lawyers from foreign jurisdictions can represent. 

On superannuating from the Supreme Court of India, on 6.7.2018, he was appointed Chairperson National Green Tribunal (NGT). NGT is India’s apex environment law tribunal, statutorily established for effective and expeditious adjudication of litigation involving environmental protection, conservation and enforcement, with Principal Bench at the Capital, and four regional benches across India. He completed five year term in the said position on 6.7.2023.  

Justice Goel’s decisions in NGT cover multifarious aspects of environment including climate change, waste management, air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, land pollution, mining, industrial accidents for violating environmental safety protocols, environmental protection of coastal zones, eco sensitive zones, forest, wildlife, biodiversity, protection of water bodies, extraction of ground water, environment impact assessment of various projects and revamping of monitoring mechanism for compliance of environmental norms.

Justice Goel’s judgments are available online on the websites of the aforesaid High Courts, Supreme Court and NGT.

Prior to serving on the Bench, Justice Goel was a litigator and member of the Bar for 27 years, from 1974 through 2001. He studied law and got an LL.B. at the Punjab University, Chandigarh. He enrolled as Advocate with the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana on 16.7.1974, and commenced practice before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He conducted matters across a wide range of subjects. While still a young Advocate, he unhesitatingly and successfully defended liberty and civil rights of a large number of victims of Emergency during 1975-1977, against unreasonable and political detentions. He eventually shifted his practice to the Supreme Court of India, and enrolled as an Advocate-on-Record in 1979, having stood first in the exam. He represented various parties to the litigation, ranging from the States to vulnerable groups in the society such as farmers, teachers, workmen and labour unions and had a substantial pro bono practice. While at the Bar, he also served as Additional Advocate General Uttar Pradesh, Senior Counsel for Central Government, Haryana, Gujrat and Himachal Pradesh Governments. He also served as Standing Council (Civil), Delhi Government, in Delhi High Court. Supreme Court designated him Senior Advocate on 11.2.1999