Guwahati: The Environment Ministry has instructed its central and state-level expert panels to accelerate the processing of outstanding applications for post-facto environmental clearances concerning past legal violations.
However, acting in strict compliance with recent Supreme Court of India directives issued in January and February, these panels cannot grant final approvals.
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The directives followed the Supreme Court’s order to temporarily stop the implementation of an office memorandum issued by the Environment Ministry in July 2021.
The Apex court issued the stay order according to a plea filed by Mumbai-based Vanashakti NGO.
According to The Indian Express, the environment ministry’s impact assessment division sent an official written communication on March 28 to Central and state expert appraisal bodies and state pollution control bodies.
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The official written communication instructed the bodies on how they must follow and implement the orders issued by the Supreme Court (SC).
“Acting in respectful compliance with the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s orders dated January 6, 2025, and February 19, 2025, the Ministry now directs that it must process all projects which applied under the provisions of the OM dated July 7, 2021, and which were pending as of January 2, 2024, according to the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s orders as mentioned in paragraph 6 above,” the environment ministry’s Office Memorandum of March 28 stated.”
“However, the ministry’s order added that it shall not pass the final order granting approval/clearance until further orders from the Hon’ble Supreme Court.”
Notably, the Supreme Court issued a legal order in January 2024 to temporarily stop the implementation of an office memorandum issued by the Environment Ministry in July 2021, which had spelled out a standard operating procedure (SoP) for the identification and handling of cases of violations.
The Apex court ordered the stay order according to a plea filed by Mumbai-based Vanashakti NGO.
Later the Court reaffirmed its earlier decision to maintain the stay on that same office memorandum in January 2025. Further, the court directed the ministry to process the pending proposals without granting final approvals in February 2025.
The Supreme Court heard the matter again on April 2 and reserved judgment on the matter, the agency added.