SC strikes down ex-post facto environmental clearances, bars Centre from issuing future approvals
The Court also invalidated past Office Memoranda (OMs) and notifications that permitted such retrospective approvals, especially in the mining sector.
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan delivered the ruling, holding that prior environmental clearance is a non-negotiable legal prerequisite under the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006.
Reading out the operative part of the judgment, Justice Oka said, 'There are no equities in favour of those who committed gross illegalities without obtaining prior ECs. These are not cases of ignorance. The violators include companies, real estate developers, PSUs, and the mining industries. They knowingly proceeded without mandatory clearances,' Justice Oka said.
The Court declared that the 2017 notification, the 2021 Office Memorandum, and all related circulars or orders enabling ex-post facto environmental clearance were illegal and hence struck down. It also restrained the Centre from issuing any future guidelines or notifications that would permit such retrospective approvals.
However, the Court clarified that ECs already granted under the now-struck-down 2017 and 2021 directives would remain valid and unaffected by the judgment.
The ruling came in response to a batch of petitions led by the environmental NGO Vanashakti, which contested the legal basis of the government's Standard Operating Procedures that allowed the regularisation of projects already operational without prior EC.
The petitioners highlighted that the term 'prior environmental clearance' appeared 34 times in the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, underlining its compulsory nature.
The Centre had defended its position by arguing that the 2021 OM and earlier 2017 notification were necessary to deal with legacy violations, claiming that a rigid interpretation would lead to mass demolitions and disrupt essential services. The government further asserted that these instruments were aligned with the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and intended to assess and mitigate environmental damage.
However, the Supreme Court rejected this rationale, reiterating that legal compliance cannot be an afterthought, particularly in matters concerning environmental protection.
The Court's interim stay on the impugned OMs, granted in January 2024, has now been made permanent with this final verdict.
The decision sets a precedent for stricter adherence to environmental laws and curbs the recurring practice of regularising violations post-facto.
UNI SNG RN
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
4 minutes ago
- Indian Express
‘Inhumane, unscientific': Animal advocates slam Supreme Court directive to relocate stray dogs in Delhi-NCR
Animal protection organisations have strongly opposed the Supreme Court's directive for Delhi-NCR civic authorities to pick up stray dogs and relocate them to shelters, calling the move 'impractical and inhumane' for healthy, vaccinated animals. 'The recent Supreme Court order… is a shocking judgment that runs contrary to global public health guidance, India's own laws, and humane, evidence-based practice,' said Bharati Ramachandran, CEO of Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO), a federation of more than 200 animal protection organisations across India. She called the mass sheltering of healthy, vaccinated dogs 'impractical and inhumane'. 'The proper and responsible response to such tragedies is… declaring a massive sterilisation and vaccination campaign. India has philanthropists who would be glad to invest in this, should money be the issue,' she added. According to Bharati, the solution lies in scaling up Delhi's sterilisation and vaccination programmes and running public awareness campaigns on co-existence. According to India's Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, sterilised and vaccinated community dogs are to be returned to their original territories after treatment. Earlier today, a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan asked the authorities to build shelters and report about the creation of infrastructure to the court within eight weeks. The bench also stated that the shelters must have sufficient personnel for sterilisation and immunisation of the stray dogs. It also directed monitoring of the shelters by CCTV cameras to ensure that no dogs are taken out. 'There should not be any compromise in undertaking any exercise. If any individual or organisation comes in the way of picking stray dogs or rounding them up, we will proceed to take action against any such resistance,' it said. Reacting to this development, Dr Mini Aravindan, Senior Director of Veterinary Affairs, PETA India, said: 'Had the Delhi government implemented an effective dog sterilisation programme, there would hardly be any dogs on the road today. But it would not be too late to start implementing an effective sterilisation programme now.' She also said that the displacement of dogs on such a large scale is not scientific and has never shown results. 'As per a population survey conducted in 2022-23, Delhi has around 10 lakh community dogs, with less than half sterilised. Forced removal of some 10 lakh community dogs from Delhi's streets will cause uproar in communities that care deeply for them and chaos and suffering for the dogs on a large scale. It will also ultimately do nothing to curb the dog population, reduce rabies or prevent dog bite incidents,' she said, stating that it was infeasible to build enough dog shelters to house all stray dogs. 'Displacing dogs also causes fights over territory and problems like starvation,' she said, adding that the government has required that community dogs be sterilised since 2001, a procedure which calms them. These dogs are also vaccinated against rabies in the process.
Indian Express
32 minutes ago
- Indian Express
‘Fight to protect democracy': Opposition leaders react to detention during ‘vote chori' protest
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the Opposition is protesting for the right to vote for every Indian, and demanded a 'clean and pure' voter list, as top opposition leaders were stopped on Monday from marching to the Election Commission (EC) office against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar. The Delhi Police said it had detained Opposition MPs including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut and TMC's Sagarika Ghose, during the protest. No one had sought permission for the protest march to the Election Commission, police said. Gandhi said the Election Commission is silent as the truth is before the entire nation, after his charge that over one lakh votes in an assembly constituency in Karnataka were found to be fake in a research conducted by his party. 'They (EC) cannot talk as the truth is before the entire nation,' he said as he was being taken away in a bus by the police. 'This fight is not political—it is a fight to protect democracy, the Constitution, and the right to 'one person, one vote',' he said. आज जब हम चुनाव आयोग से मिलने जा रहे थे, INDIA गठबंधन के सभी सांसदों को रोका गया और हिरासत में ले लिया गया। वोट चोरी की सच्चाई अब देश के सामने है। यह लड़ाई राजनीतिक नहीं – यह लोकतंत्र, संविधान और 'एक व्यक्ति, एक वोट' के अधिकार की रक्षा की लड़ाई है। एकजुट विपक्ष और देश का हर… — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 11, 2025 Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said the protest against 'vote chori' and SIR is a fight to protect people's right to vote and a struggle to save democracy. In a post on X, he said, 'BJP's cowardly dictatorship will not work. This is a fight to protect people's right to vote. This is a struggle to save democracy. The allies of the INDIA coalition will surely expose this BJP conspiracy to shred the Constitution.' भाजपा की कायराना तानाशाही नहीं चलेगी ! ये जनता के वोट के अधिकार को बचाने की लड़ाई है। ये लोकतंत्र को बचाने का संघर्ष है। INDIA गठबंधन के साथी संविधान की धज्जियां उड़ाने वाली इस भाजपाई साज़िश को बेनक़ाब करके ही रहेंगे। #VoteChori — Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) August 11, 2025 Democracy was being 'assaulted and murdered right outside Parliament,' alleged Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh. He told PTI that Opposition MPs wanted to take out a peaceful march to the EC office as a mark of protest against the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls, but were stopped by the police. 'We had already written to the EC that all MPs collectively wanted to hand over a memorandum to the EC,' he said. 'Chunav Aayog is Chunav Aayog, it cannot be churao aayog,' Ramesh told PTI. Here is our original request to the ECI. It is for the Opposition MPs to collectively hand over a memoradum and NOT for just a delegation — Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) August 11, 2025 Congress MP KC Venugopal on Monday posted on X saying, 'This is nothing but a desperate attempt to silence the Opposition on this burning issue of saving democracy from mass rigging. Such intimidation will not work for us, and we will continue to fight for the people's inalienable right to vote.' We were holding a peaceful march to the ECI office, but the police has detained all of us, including INC President Sh. Mallikarjun @kharge ji, LOP Sh. @RahulGandhi ji and hundreds of INDIA bloc leaders. This is nothing but a desperate attempt to silence the opposition on this… — K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) August 11, 2025 Wearing white caps with a red cross on the words 'SIR' and 'vote chori', the protesting MPs started their march from Parliament's Makar Dwar raising slogans against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar and 'vote chori' while carrying placards and banners.
The Print
an hour ago
- The Print
Delhi Police says Rahul Gandhi among 30 MPs held during march to EC office, cites lack of permission
Police said the opposition leaders were detained and taken to Parliament Street Police Station as only the Election Commission had only given permission to 30 MPs to enter its premises but the protesters were in 'large numbers'. The detained MPs include Congress' Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut and TMC's Sagarika Ghose, a police official said. New Delhi, Aug 11 (PTI) The Delhi Police on Monday said it has detained more than 30 opposition MPs who were holding a march to the EC office against the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls. Police said no one had sought permission for the protest march to the Election Commission. The opposition leaders had planned a march from Makar Dwar in Parliament to the Election Commission office where they wanted to hand over a memorandum on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) issue to the EC. 'The MPs have been informed that only 30 MPs are allowed to go to the Election Commission. We will take them there once we get their names from the EC,' a senior police officer said. Security was tightened near the headquarters of the poll body, with barricades at multiple points along the route. Police personnel were deployed to maintain order and prevent any untoward incidents, a senior police officer said. Additional security vehicles and quick reaction teams have also been stationed in the vicinity of the EC office and surrounding roads to ensure smooth traffic flow and prevent congestion. The opposition march was against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, which they allege is aimed at manipulating electoral rolls ahead of polls. The Congress is also protesting what it claims was large-scale manipulation of voter lists in Bengaluru's Mahadevapura constituency during the 2023 Assembly elections. PTI SSJ SKY SKY This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
