The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) is an institution, originally an ad hoc body, that has been institutionalized as a permanent statutory body. Its origin traces back to the landmark case of N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India & Ors (1997), which highlighted the urgent need for conservation of India's ecologically fragile regions. Recognizing the complexity of environmental adjudication, the Supreme Court constituted the CEC in 2002 to act as a specialized "green watchdog".
The CEC's primary mechanism is to monitor compliance with Supreme Court orders concerning environment, forest, and wildlife matters. It conducts field inspections, reviews cases of non-compliance, and submits independent, fact-finding reports to the Court, often leading to significant actions, such as exposing illegal mining in Goa in 2012.
A major change occurred in September 2023, when the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) issued a notification under Section 3(3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, to constitute the CEC as a permanent statutory body. This move transferred its administrative oversight from the Supreme Court to the MoEFCC. The CEC connects to key environmental legislation, including the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, and the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. While the National Green Tribunal (NGT) is a quasi-judicial body that adjudicates disputes, the CEC provides technical and compliance-focused support directly to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has since directed that the Union Government cannot disband the CEC without the Court's prior approval.