Judgment

Ruma Pal, J.-SLP (C) Nos. 10008-10011, 17691-17694, 17695-17696 and CA No. 358/04 @ SLP (C) No. 1491/04 @ CC No. 5083 of 2001.

Delay condoned. Leave granted.

2. The Jamnagar Marine National Park and Sanctuary lie along the lower lip of the Gulf of Katchch in the State of Gujarat covering reserve forests and territorial waters. Essar Oil Ltd., Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd. (BORL) and Gujarat Positra Port Co. Ltd., seek to lay pipelines to pump crude oil from a single buoy mooring in the Gulf across a portion of the Marine National Park and Marine Sanctuary to their oil refineries in Jamnagar District. On the basis of separate public interest litigation petitions filed by Halar Utkarsh Samity and Jansangharsh Manch the High Court, by the impugned judgment, has held that BORL may lay its pipelines but the others may not and has restrained the State Government from granting any more authorizations and permissions for laying down any pipeline in any part of the sanctuary or national park. BORL was allowed to lay its pipelines by the High Court, since permission to do so had already been granted to it by the State government and since no such permission had, according to the High Cou