Delhi HC asks Centre to respond to plea related to environmental clearance of initiated projects

New Delhi, Dec 14 (PTI) The Delhi High Court Tuesday sought the Centre's response on a plea challenging a memorandum by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change providing another opportunity to get environmental clearance (EC) for projects which have already been initiated.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued notice to the Centre on a petition filed by a woman student.

The court, which refused to stay the notification at this stage, also issued notice on the stay application and listed the matter for further hearing on March 29, 2022.

The petitioner challenged the July 7 office memorandum issued by MoEFCC which provides for another opportunity to get EC for the projects that have initiated operations without procuring a prior EC.

The petition, filed through advocates Chirag Jain and Shobhit Shukla, said that the office memorandum provides another opportunity to the violators to procure an ex post facto clearance against the provisions of Environment Impact Assessment notifications of 1994 and 2006.

The Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 1994 and 2006 provide for a mandatory EC to be taken prior to the initiation of any work on a project. PTI SKV ZMN