National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 – s.22 – Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 – Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 – NGT allowed the original application filed by Respondent No.3 holding inter alia that the GC under the EIA 2006 Notification applies to Items 8(a) and 8(b) – Respondent No.1-MoEF&CC was directed to ensure that all building and construction projects falling wholly or partly within 5 km of protected areas, critically polluted areas (CPAs), severely polluted areas (SPAs), eco-sensitive zones, or inter-State boundaries be treated as Category A projects requiring appraisal by the Sectoral Expert Appraisal Committee (Central EAC) – The Tribunal reasoned that since the EIA 2014 Notification had been quashed by the Kerala High Court, the exclusion of Items 8(a) and 8(b) from the GC no longer survived – Further, Respondent No.1 was also directed either to strictly implement the EIA 2006 Notification, or to issue a clarificatory notification – Challenge to: Held: 1.1 In the aftermath of the impugned order, the MoEF&CC issued Notification dtd.29.01.2025, once again inserting in Column
5 of Item 8 (a) Note expressly providing that “General Conditions shall not apply” – The Notification recorded that it was issued in the backdrop of the Kerala High Court judgment dtd.06.03.2024 and the NGT’s order dtd.09.08.2024 – A consequential Office Memorandum dtd.30.01.2025 was issued, clarifying that the Notification would apply to the State of Kerala. [Para 21]
1.2 The latest notification dtd.29.01.2025 was issued by Respondent No.1 on the basis of the order impugned in these appeals – The said Notification, together with the aforesaid consequential official Memorandum was challenged before this Court in Writ Petition (C) No.166 of 2025 whereby the Notification and the Office Memorandum were upheld, save and except Note 1 to Entry 8(a), which was struck down – It was held that wherever the delegated legislation intended the General Conditions to apply, the Schedule itself made a specific provision, and consequently Entries 8(a) and 8(b) did not attract the applicability of the General Conditions – With respect to the impugned order dated 09.08.2024 of the NGT, this Court found that the Tribunal had failed to construe the EIA 2006 Notification in its correct perspective – A plain reading of the Notification revealed that the General Conditions were never attracted to projects falling under Items 8(a) and 8(b). [Paras 23, 24.1]
1.3 While upholding the 2025 Notification, this Court set aside Note 1 in Column 5 of Item 8(a), holding that the exclusion of projects such as industrial sheds, schools, colleges, and hostels for educational institutions was inconsistent with the object and scheme of the Environment Protection Act, 1986 – With respect to the OM dated 30.01.2025, it was further held that the 2025 Notification would apply to the State of Kerala as well – Thus, the 2025 Notification (excluding Note 1 to Entry 8(a)) and the OM dated 30.01.2025 were upheld, and the writ petition was allowed in part. [Para 24.3]
1.4 The decision so rendered has a direct bearing on the present appeals – Since the issues raised herein already stand adjudicated, it is neither necessary nor proper to re-examine them afresh – The view so taken by the coordinate Bench in Writ Petition (C) No.166 of 2025 is fully agreed with – Thus, the impugned order dtd.09.08.2024 of the NGT, on the basis of which the 2025 Notification was subsequently issued and which has been upheld by this Court, does not survive for consideration – The 2025 Notification, excluding Note 1 to Entry 8(a), presently holds the field. [Paras 23, 24.3, 25]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Divya Pandey. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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