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Informist, Wednesday, Jul. 29, 2026

 

--SC bars govt from retrospective environ nod to mining, development projects 

--CONTEXT: SC order on pleas by SAIL, real estate bodies 

--SC: All environment nods by govt to previous projects will remain valid 

--SC:Post-facto environ OK to mining projects valid only in exceptional cases 

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Wednesday held that the Centre can grant retrospective environmental clearances to mining and other development projects in exceptional cases only through a valid statutory notification issued under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and not merely via an administrative order. The Centre is restrained from passing administrative orders in future granting ex post facto environmental clearances to projects that commence in violation of the Environmental Impact Assessment, 2006 notification, except by way of a valid notification issued in exercise of powers under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, said the court. These directions shall not constrain the powers of this apex court under Article 142 of the Constitution to grant ex post facto environmental clearance to do complete justice in appropriate cases, it said.

 

The apex court quashed the government's 2021 office memorandum, which created a mechanism for granting retrospective environmental clearance to projects that were started without obtaining prior nod. The 2021 office memorandum is an administrative order and envisages a perpetual regime for grant of environmental clearances to projects undertaken without prior environmental clearance, said the top court. It substantially alters the nature of enquiry as well as the criteria for grant of clearance under the Environmental Impact Assessment, 2006 notification, said the court. The 2021 Office Memorandum thereby supplants delegated legislation through an administrative instruction, which is impermissible in law.

 

Even otherwise, being a perpetual amnesty scheme applicable to all permissible projects, the 2021 office memorandum fails to lay down an intelligible differentia for the selection of projects for grant of ex post facto environmental clearance having a rational nexus to supervening public interest, said the court. It is, therefore, "ultra vires" of the object of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, namely preservation of the environment through a balanced approach between the precautionary principle and sustainable development, it added. In these circumstances, the 2021 office memorandum does not satisfy the test of proportionality and reasonableness and is violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, and is accordingly quashed, the court noted. 

 

However, the apex court upheld the government's 2017 notification, that allowed projects that started without approval a six-month window to seek retrospective environmental clearance. The court said the 2017 notification is valid as it was a narrowly tailored and time-bound delegated legislation traceable to Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 read with Section 21 of the General Clauses Act. 

 

The court ruled that all environmental clearances granted under the 2017 notification or the 2021 office memorandum shall remain valid unless individually assailed in accordance with law, in view of the public interest. All applications for grant of environmental clearance made under the impugned instruments, whether pending or dismissed solely with reference to the stay order of the court in 2024 or its previous judgment, shall be dealt with in terms of the apex court's directions provided in its order, said a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant. No further applications for grant of environmental clearances under the 2017 notification or the 2021 office memorandum shall be entertained, it said. 

 

In May 2025, the apex court had quashed the 2017 notification and the 2021 office memorandum that allowed for retrospective environmental clearance to projects that were in violation of the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006. According to the 2006 notification, mining and other development projects needed a prior environmental clearance from the regulatory authority concerned to start a project. These notifications of 2017 and the office memorandum of 2021 had allowed projects that had started work or completed it in defiance of the 2006 notification to get a retrospective environmental clearance. It was then hearing a petition by non-government organisation Vanashakti, which had challenged the 2017 notification and 2021 office memorandum on the grounds that these were arbitrary, illegal and ultra vires the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.   

 

However, in November 2025, the top court had allowed review petitions by Steel Authority of India Ltd. and the Confederation of Real Estate Developers of India and had recalled its May 2025 verdict that had restrained the Centre from granting retrospective environmental clearance to mining and other development projects. In a two-to-one majority judgment, a bench led by then chief justice of India B.R. Gavai said public projects of INR 200 billion would have to be demolished if its previous order was not recalled. Consequently, the apex court again heard the matter, and after arguments, passed its verdict on Wednesday.

 

At 1136 IST, the shares of SAIL were trading 4.2% higher at INR 172.78 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

  

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

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