A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court, in a majority judgment on Tuesday, recalled its May 16 verdict declaring the Centre’s grant of ex post facto or retrospective environmental clearances (ECs) to building projects and constructions a “gross illegality” and an “anathema”.

Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, who is retiring on November 23, in his separate opinion, said the May 16 judgment, if allowed to continue to operate, would have a “devastating effect” and “thousands of crores of rupees would go to waste”. Justice K Vinod Chandran backed his view, forming the majority on the Bench.

Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, in a 97-page opinion recorded a sharp dissent. He termed the review judgment an “innocent expression of opinion” which overlooked the “very fundamentals of environmental jurispruden

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