Supreme Court Slams NGT for Dereliction of Duty in Silchar Airport Case, Halts Construction

On Monday (May 6), the Supreme Court (SC) ruled that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) 'abdicated' its duties by not interfering with the construction of the Silchar Greenfield Airport Project, which was proceeding without the required prior Environmental Clearance (EC). During the proceedings, the three-judge bench expressed grave concern over the violation of environmental norms due to extensive clearance activities. It further observed that the airport would bolster connectivity and spur economic development in the region, opponents have raised alarm over its potential environmental repercussions and displacement of local communities. The cleared area included the Doloo and Silkori tea estates, which covered approximately 335 hectares. The Court rebuked the authorities for carrying out extensive clearing of the site, in which almost 41 lakh tea bushes were uprooted and numerous shade trees were brought down, without prior Environmental Clearance in violation of environmental regulations. The authorities' contention that the tea bushes were cleared as part of routine tea cultivation processes did not convince the Court cause it was deemed insufficient. 

While overturning the NGT's order, the Court directed that no operations relating to the construction of the proposed Greenfield airport at the Doloo tea estate be undertaken unless mandatory environmental clearance is acquired. The bench constituting CJI DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, emphasized that shade trees and tea bushes were cut down for the project without prior environmental permission, as required by the Notification of September 14, 2006. Although the appellants contested the activities before the NGT, the Tribunal did not intervene. The SC observed that the NGT took a sluggish approach to dealing with the appellants' grievances and that the Tribunal completely abdicated its duties as an expert body established by a Statute enacted by Parliament in the interest of environmental preservation; it was the Tribunal's responsibility to verify the authenticity of the appellants' grievance. The order reads, “there has been a complete abdication of duties by the NGT…as an expert body formed by a Statute enacted by the Parliament in the interest of the preservation of the environment, it was the duty of the Tribunal to verify the grievance of the appellants.” The Court additionally underlined that any future applications regarding environmental clearance for the project will be processed solely based on the site's condition before the illegal clearance of bushes and shade trees.