The Supreme Court has issued a temporary halt to an office memorandum released by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. This memorandum permitted projects to proceed with operations without securing prior environmental clearances.

In response to a plea filed by the NGO Vanashakti, Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta issued a notice to the Ministry, stating that there will be a stay on the memorandum dated January 20, 2022, until further orders. The NGO, represented by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, argued that allowing ex post facto environmental clearance contradicts the Environmental Protection Act, as the environmental impact assessment should occur before the commencement of any activity.

The plea challenges the validity of the office memorandum, seeking a direction for the Ministry and state environment impact assessment authorities to refrain from processing or entertaining applications for ex post facto environmental clearance.