Crucially, the court also issued several guidelines to be implemented by the government, including the creation of a national regulator to grant clearances for similar projects and impose penalties on polluters.
The court's judgement is a push for more streamlined procedures and greater transparency in environmental regulation in India. Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh had proposed the creation of a National Environment Protection Authority in 2009 so that the executive could reclaim the territory of granting clearances and playing regulator from the judiciary. Ramesh had acknowledged that the government's regulation of such cases had suffered in recent years.
The court has now given the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) six months to file a status report on the various reforms it has asked for. It has also said that till a regulator is finally set up by the government, the environment ministry should “prepare a panel of accredited institutions" from which alone project proponents could obtain environment impact assessments. Read the full report here.
Source: Nikhil Kanekal, Live Mint, New Delhi.
