Supreme Court Recalls Verdict Barring Retrospective Environmental Clearances

In a significant 2:1 majority ruling, the Supreme Court has recalled its May 2025 judgment that declared retrospective or 'ex post facto' environmental clearances illegal. The court reasoned that demolishing existing projects, many of them public and worth over ₹20,000 crore, would cause greater environmental harm. The majority opinion stated that the earlier bench should have referred the matter to a larger bench due to conflicting precedents. The dissenting judge strongly upheld the original verdict, calling retrospective clearances an "anathema to environmental jurisprudence."