Government has set up a new Central Empowered Committee (CEC), replacing an ad hoc expert panel, which assisted the Supreme Court in matters of forest and environment issues. The CEC, initially established by the apex court in 2002, served as a watchdog for issues pertaining to environmental conservation and compliance. This comes shortly after the passage of the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023. The Centre will nominate and appoint members to the new CEC, comprising a chairperson, a member secretary and three expert members.