Supreme Court restrains Centre from issuing fresh post-facto green clearances

Supreme Court restrained Centre from issuing fresh post-facto green clearances or entertaining pending applications for projects that started without prior clearance.

Court struck down the 2021 MoEFCC office memorandum on post-facto ECs, but saved projects that already received clearances under the 2017 notification and 2021 OM.

Centre was directed to process pending applications under the 2017 and 2021 regimes strictly according to the Environment Protection Act.

Experts called the ruling a partial but significant course correction that still left a statutory pathway for the Centre to legalize past violations.

The order came while considering the fate of the 2017 notification and 2021 OM under challenge in public interest litigations.