NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday was asked to constitute a bench for fresh hearing of pleas regarding grant of previous environmental clearances to projects violating environmental norms.
SC calls for constitution of bench to hear fresh pleas on grant of previous environmental clearance to projectsOn November 18, 2025, a three-judge bench headed by the then Chief Justice BR Gavai by a 2:1 majority cleared the way for earlier environmental sanction by the Center and other authorities to impose heavy fines on projects violating environmental norms, observing that otherwise would be “thousands of crores”.
Earlier, on May 16, 2025, after a bench of Justice AS Okar retired and Justice Ujjal Bhuiyan barred the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and concerned authorities from granting retrospective EC to projects that violated environmental norms.
While returning the decision, the bench headed by Justice Gavai ordered a fresh hearing on the matter with the petition filed by NGO ‘Bansakhti’.
On Thursday, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Jaimalya Bagchir was told by a lawyer that a three-judge bench would be constituted to hear the plea afresh.
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“We will see,” said CJI Kant.
CJI Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran formed the majority and returned the judgment on 16 May.
Justice Ujjal Bhuiyan, who was part of the judgment delivered on May 16 by Justice Oka, who has retired, wrote a strong dissent and said the EC’s ex post grant was unconscionable and an “insult” to environmental law as they were contrary to both the precautionary principle as well as the need for sustainable development.
The majority judgment effectively revived the controversial 2017 notification and a 2021 office memorandum that paved the way for projects that had started construction without an earlier EC to regularize their operations by paying fines.
Justice Gavai directed the registry to place the matter before the CJI on the administrative side for the necessary order ensuring a fresh hearing of the petition against the Center’s notification and OM.
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