A group of retired civil servants on Friday expressed concerns about the allegedly disparaging remarks made by Chief Justice Surya Kant recently while hearing an appeal against the National Green Tribunal’s order upholding the environmental clearances for the Pipavav port expansion project in Gujarat.On May 11, a bench headed by the chief justice had refused to entertain the petition challenging the tribunal’s November decision to dismiss an appeal seeking the quashing of the clearances.According to the Constitutional Conduct Group, the chief justice told the environmental litigants during the hearing: “Show us one project in India where environmental activists say we welcome this project, the country is progressing well, we welcome this project”.The bench alleged such petitions were filed “only to stall development projects”, The Indian Express reported.The court further clarified that it has always been concerned about environmental issues and are critical of anything that affects the environment, the newspaper reported.The chief justice’s remarks “suggesting that these activists obstruct ‘development’, reveal a bias and prejudice that is alarming, coming from the highest judicial authority of the country, an authority whose mandate is to approach every issue without pre-conceived notions and decide each case on merits”, the group of former bureaucrats said in an open letter.The group said that even if the remarks were verbal observations, they get widely reported and “may shape decisions that weaken environmental and conservation safeguards in the country, and influence lower courts to also adopt similar attitudes”.“Such statements can foster fear and silence citizens’ voices of dissent, discouraging them from questioning ecological damage, and the potential adverse impact on communities and public health,” the group said. “Such statements would create tendencies fundamentally antithetical to democracy and an atmosphere of fear in which flaws, violations, or adverse consequences linked to projects remain unreported or concealed.”The former bureaucrats said that India’s environmental integrity had been shaped and strengthened by environmental movements. Conservation frameworks and environmental safeguards of “polluter pays”, “precautionary principle”, “inter-generational equity” were also the outcome of “judicial activism of the Supreme Court”, they added.The top court has been the “last hope of environmentally conscious citizens”, who are therefore dismayed by the remarks made by the chief justice aimed at citizens fighting for conservation, the group said.“We hope the [chief justice] will encourage rather than discourage citizens from raising their voice for the ecological integrity of our country, and recognise that this is fundamental to our country’s economic security and growth,” they added.The 71 signatories to the letter include Punjab’s former Director General of Police Julio Ribeiro, Delhi’s former Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, former Indian ambassador Gautam Mukhopadhaya, and former Indian Administrative Service officer and activist Harsh Mander.Written by Nachiket Deuskar. Edited by Sara Varghese.