SC verdict in a case paves way for continuation of PRLIS, SSMPP
The Supreme Court of India ruled that the government cannot grant post-facto environmental clearances through administrative office memoranda. While the court invalidated the 2021 memorandum, it allowed existing projects to continue, providing legal clarity for major infrastructure schemes.
Why it matters
This judgment establishes a critical legal precedent regarding the limits of executive power in environmental regulation and ensures the continuation of significant state infrastructure projects.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (July 29) quashed a July 7, 2021 office memorandum of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and held that the Centre could allow post-facto Environmental Clearances (ECs) through statutory notification, paying a way to continuation of three projects, whose ECs were kept on hold (abeyance).
The judgment, though directly not linked, would now allow the State government to continue with works on the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, Sitamma Sagar Multipurpose Project and Gouravelli reservoir. The 2021 office memorandum lays down a standard operating procedure for identifying and dealing with violation cases under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification, 2006.
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