Original Coverage: Don’t Grant Ex-Post Facto Environmental Clearances In Future : Supreme Court To Centre; Quashes Previous Notifications

The Supreme Court on Friday (May 16) restrained the Central Government from granting “ex-post facto” Environmental Clearances (EC) in future. This means that the projects which commenced without obtaining the mandatory prior Environmental Clearance cannot be later regularised by granting them EC. The bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan pronounced the verdict. They said: “We hold that the 2017 notification and the 2021 OM, as well as all circulars, orders, and notifications issued for giving effect to these notifications are illegal and hereby struck down. We clarify that ECs already granted under the 2017 Notification and the January 2022 OM shall remain unaffected” The verdict was handed down by Justice Ravi Agrawal, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, and Justice Sanjay Gupta, the Deputy Chief Justice. The judgment was delivered on May 16, 2018, at 10:30am (GMT)

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