Overview
- Chief Justice B. R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran allowed review petitions and recalled the May 16 Vanshakti judgment, while Justice Ujjal Bhuyan dissented, calling post-facto ECs an anathema to environmental law.
- The recall revives the 2017 notification and 2021 Office Memorandum that enable limited retrospective approvals with penalties and strict scrutiny, requiring full appraisal for each violating project without automatic clearances.
- The majority cited severe practical fallout from the May ruling, warning of potential demolition of public assets worth roughly ₹20,000 crore, including an AIIMS facility in Odisha, a Vijayanagar airport project, and effluent treatment plants.
- The environment ministry told the court that 45 central projects worth ₹79,000 crore were stuck, with 33 under appraisal and 12 awaiting final ECs, as developers and government bodies such as CREDAI sought relief.
- The court ordered the questions to be placed before a larger bench for fresh consideration, with administrative listing and detailed orders to follow.