Flawed order on green clearances

In a deeply disappointing interpretation of environmental regulations, the Supreme Court has recalled its earlier order in the Vanashakti vs Union of India case requiring project proponents to obtain prior environmental clearance (EC), a legal guardrail instituted to prevent irreversible harm to nature.

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Two judges out of three on the bench, including outgoing Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, viewed the judicial prohibition on the grant of environmental clearance after a project was put up as unsustainable. The CJI referred to monetary loss to those who had put up the constructions, since they would have to demolish them. Demolition, he added, would also cause pollution. Moreover, if the same projects were found eligible later, the proponents would have to make fresh investments. Justice K. Vinod Chandran concurred with the CJI on the need for a review. The crux of the issue, however, can be found in the dissent of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, who pointed out that the court could not backtrack on the mature environmental jurisprudence that had evolved over time, that too at the instance of violators. The challe