The government on Friday appointed Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel the new chairperson of the National Green Tribunal, hours after his farewell from the Supreme Court, Bar and Bench reported. Goel will hold the post for a period of five years, a notification by the Department of Personnel and Training said.

Goel is a former chief justice of the Orissa and Gauhati High Courts. He was also a judge at the Punjab and Haryana High Court from 2001 to 2011. He was elevated to the Supreme Court in July 2014. He was the first Supreme Court judge from Haryana. He retired on Friday.

The previous chairperson of the National Green Tribunal was Justice Swatanter Kumar, who retired in December 2017. Justice Umesh Dattatraya Salvi was appointed the acting chairperson after Kumar’s retirement, but he too retired in February. Justice Jawad Rahim has been the acting chairperson since then.