The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down the Centre’s 2021 Office Memorandum that created a mechanism for granting retrospective environmental clearances (ECs) to projects that had begun work without prior approval.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi unanimously held that prior environmental clearance remains the mandatory requirement under the existing framework, and projects cannot ordinarily start operations before obtaining approval.
However, the court provided some relief to the government by ruling that its decision would apply prospectively. Environmental clearances already granted under the scrapped mechanism will remain unaffected.
The bench observed that the Centre may, in exceptional cases and in the larger public interest, introduce a limited and time-bound amnesty scheme through a valid statutory notification.
Such a mechanism, it said, cannot be introduced through an executive office memorandum or become a permanent method for regularising environmental violations.
The court also noted that it can, while exercising its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, grant post-facto environmental clearances to projects in appropriate cases.
On April 1, the apex court had reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions, including review pleas, challenging the grant of retrospective environmental clearances to projects that had violated green norms.
(With inputs from PTI)