SC rejects EIA exemption for roads, pipelines, citing environmental concerns

The Supreme Court's decision on March 21 to set aside an amendment eliminating the requirement of environmental clearance for extracting earth for linear projects such as roads and pipelines highlighted significant concerns about environmental safeguards and legal processes.

Justices A S Oka and Sanjay Karol delivered a detailed 32-page judgment, declaring the blanket exemption as "completely unguided." The amendment, issued during the COVID-19 pandemic to fast-track road infrastructure and support daily wage workers, faced scrutiny due to its lack of specificity and procedural irregularities.

The bench criticized the haste in issuing the notification for purported public interest just days before the nationwide lockdown on March 25, 2020, which effectively halted all linear projects. They quashed item 6 of the amended notifications dated March 28, 2020, and August 30, 2023, emphasizing the need for public participation in environmental matters as per Article 21 of the Constitution.

“We have no hesitation in striking down item 6 of the substituted Appendix-IX forming part of the impugned notification dated March 28, 2020 and item 6 of the amended impugned notification dated August 30, 2023. Accordingly, we quash item 6 in the two notifications above,” the bench said.

"Article 21 grants citizens the right to live in a pollution-free environment. Citizens bear the fundamental duty to protect and improve the environment. Thus, their participation becomes crucial, and to ensure this, we allow them to raise objections to the proposed notification. After all, they are the major stakeholders in environmental matters. No one can prevent their participation..."

The court faulted the exemption's ambiguity regarding the quantity of earth extraction and undefined boundaries for extraction areas. The term 'linear projects' lacked definition, contributing to the notification's arbitrary nature. The absence of excavation guidelines and an oversight authority further compounded the issue, leading to a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution.

In response to environmental activist Noble M Paikada's petition challenging the 2020 notification, the court's decision underscored the importance of environmental protection and legal due process in infrastructure projects. The subsequent revised notification in August 2023 aimed to address these concerns by subjecting extraction activities to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and environmental safeguards.

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