Limitation Period To Challenge Environmental Clearance Commences From Earliest Date Of Its Public Communication: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court ruled that the limitation period for filing an appeal against the grant of Environmental Clearance ("EC") would be reckoned from the earliest date of communication of the EC to the public at large. 

The Court endorsed the NGT's decision of Save Mon Region Federation & Anr. vs. Union of India, 2013(1) All India NGT Reporter 1 which stated that the "obligations of MoEF&CC, the project proponent and others to communicate the grant of EC to any person aggrieved and hold that where different stake holders are to communicate the order, the earliest date on which the communication is carried out, shall be the date for reckoning limitation to file appeal against the grant of EC."

A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Atul S Chandurkar made this observation while deciding a case where the Appellant-Tally Gram Panchayat contested the grant of EC (05.01.2017) to Ultratech Cement before the National Green Tribunal (“NGT”) for a limestone mining project covering an extent of 193.3269 hectares at Talli and Bambor villages in Gujarat. The Appellant's appeal against the grant of EC by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) was dismissed by the NGT on the ground of limitation, holding that the appeal was filed belatedly on April 19, 2017, i.e., beyond the statutory prescribed time period of 30 days, extendable up to 60 days.

Challenging the NGT's order, the Appellant moved the Supreme Court arguing that since the grant of EC was known to them only on 14.02.2017 via RTI query, the period of limitation should be reckoned from 14.02.2017, not 05.01.2017. It was also argued that there was no publication of the entire EC in the local daily newspaper as per Clause 10 of the Environment Impact Assessment Notification 2006, (“EIA Notification, 2006”).

The Respondent's however, contended that the 30-day limitation period for filing an appeal before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) begins from the earliest date on which the EC is communicated to the public by any of the responsible authorities. Since the EC was published on the website of the Ministry, it was a sufficient compliance as per Clause 10 of the EIA Notification, 2006, the Respondents further argued.

Dismissing the Appeal, the Court found the EC uploaded on the Ministry's website, i.e., 05.01.2017, to be the earliest of the communications for computation of the limitation period to file an appeal before the NGT against the grant of EC.

“When obligation to communicate the decision vests in multiple authorities, it is appropriate to infer that the communication is complete when the 'person aggrieved' receives information from the earliest of the communication.”, the court ruled, and further observed that "it is evident from the table extracted hereinabove that the EC granted on 05.01.2017 was uploaded on the website of the MoEF&CC on the very same day."

The Court agreed with the Respondent's contention that when there are multiple ways to communicate the EC, the earliest date on which the EC is communicated to the public would be considered.

Accordingly, the appeal was dismissed.

Also from the judgment -No Requirement To Publish Entire Environmental Clearance In Newspaper : Supreme Court

Cause Title: TALLI GRAM PANCHAYAT VERSUS UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 1123

Click here to download judgment

Appearance:

For Appellant(s) : Mr. Sanjay Parikh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Abhimanue Shrestha, AOR Mr. Satwik Parikh, Adv. Ms. Kritika, Adv.

For Respondent(s) :M/S. Khaitan & Co., AOR Mr. Pinaki Mishra, Sr. Adv. Mrs. Vanita Bhargava, Adv. Mr. Ajay Bhargava, Adv. Ms. Nandita Chauhan, Adv. Ms. Tijil Thakur, Adv. Ms. Aastha Mehta, Adv. Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR Ms. Prerana Mohapatra, Adv. Ms. Prina Sharma, Adv. Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR