HYDERABADThe 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.Through the judgment in a case filed by Vanashakti, an NGO, which challenged the office memorandum, a copy of which is available with The Hindu, the Supreme Court held that the 2006 notification, which made the prior EC mandatory, could not have been supplanted through an administrative order.During the hearings completed on April 1 this year, the court questioned whether courts could adopt a blanket rule prohibiting post-facto ECs and whether the legislature or a delegated law-maker could provide for such a regime. The court also expressed concern that permitting projects to continue until authorities identify violations under the office memorandum could dilute the requirement of obtaining prior EC.The apex court held that while the Centre has the power to grant post-facto ECs through statutory notifications, it cannot do so through mere office memorandum, which created a mechanism for granting EC to projects that had commenced operations without obtaining prior EC. The court, however, gave the ruling with prospective effect, protecting clearances already granted under the impugned regime.Further, the court held that the 2021 office memorandum was ultra vires the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, as it sought to alter the existing EC framework through an administrative order rather than a statutory notification. The existing regime under the 2006 notification is mandatory unless amended through a statutory notification, it said.Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao welcomed the Supreme Court verdict and said it would help complete the works towards achieving intended benefits. Published - July 29, 2026 09:14 pm IST