The Supreme Court halted the proposed greenfield airport at Silchar on Monday due to the lack of environmental clearances for clearing land at the Doolo Tea Estate in Silchar, Assam.

A bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud noted that the clearing activities were conducted without environmental clearance (EC), thus contravening the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification of 2006.

A bench, also comprising Justices Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, noted, 'At this stage, it would prima facie appear that approximately 41 lakh tea bushes have been uprooted. What needs to be noted is that in the present case, the clearance of the site was by no means traceable to the cultivation of the tea estate. The clearance was not a part of regular maintenance of the tea estate.'

Expressing his concern over the plea, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench, "People staying 1300 km away are filing self-serving petitions.

SG Mehta further told the court that for the greenfield project, land was selected by AAI and wind direction had to be seen. "There were 3 potential lands which were available for consideration. AAI said that for  a runway it needs larger landd," SG added.

On the court's direction that no further steps be taken, the SG said, "But what about false statements that houses are being brought down, forests are being cut. This is how the jurisdiction of this court is being abused. They are so-called experts who have not even visited the site..".

Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners, countered that false statements were made in the joint secretary's affidavit.