MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Thursday stayed a communication issued by the Union Ministry of Environment prescribing a procedure for granting post-facto clearance to projects that were taken without obtaining environmental clearance as required under Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006.
Justices TS Sivgnanam and S Ananthi, passed the interim order on a PIL filed by an activist, R Fatima of Thoothukudi, to quash the said communication. Fatima submitted that the notification makes it mandatory for all projects in need of environmental clearance to obtain such clearance before starting any work. “The very purpose of conducting an environmental impact assessment before a project is granted clearance is to ensure that no development takes place without sufficient assessment of the risks and damages that would be caused to the environment due to the project’s construction and development.”
The notification also provides a detailed procedure to be followed while considering an application for environmental clearance. This includes four stages — screening, scoping, public consultation, and appraisal, she explained. “Though there is no provision to grant post-facto clearance under EIA notification, 2006, the Ministry has time and again issued office memoranda, circulars and notifications to grant such clearance during the past two decades in complete violation of Environment Act, 1986,” Fatima alleged. Stating that an administrative order cannot nullify a statutory requirement, she requested the court to quash the memorandum.
A similar PIL was filed by Fatima against a memorandum issued by the Ministry in February for considering applications for post-facto clearance under Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, 2011. The communication was stayed in April last week. The SC, last year, had also come down heavily against the grant of post-facto environmental clearances holding that it would be contrary to precautionary principle and sustainable development. The litigant is the Secretary of Thoothukudi Peace Committee and Convener of Fishermen Movements Coordination of Tamilnadu and Puducherry.
Post facto clearance
Post-facto clearance is a clearance granted after commencement or completion of a project. The EIA new draft 2020 allows such clearance