The Supreme Court on Thursday did not allow a writ petition filed by Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh challenging the grant of retrospective environmental clearances. ADVERTISEMENTIn January, Ramesh had filed a petition before the apex court challenging the practice of granting environmental clearances to projects after the construction work had begun. The CJI led bench with Justice Joymalya Bagchi questioned why Ramesh did not file a review petition instead of a writ petition. The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) rules 2006 make it mandatory for projects to get environmental clearances before commencement of the groundwork. In May 2025, the Supreme Court ruled that retrospective clearances violated environmental and constitutional principles and ruled any construction project without environment clearances as illegal.

Source: The Telegraph February 12, 2026 09:25 UTC