JUDGMENT :

AFTAB ALAM, J.- At the centre of the controversy is a very large project of the Uttar Pradesh Government at NOIDA. Objecting to the project are the two applicants who are residents of Sector 15-A, NOIDA, U.P. They claim to be public-spirited people, committed to the cause of environment. According to them, the project, undertaken at the instance of the Uttar Pradesh Government is a "huge unauthorised construction".

2. The applicants state that a very large number of trees were cut down for clearing the ground for the project. The trees that were felled down for the project formed a "forest" as the term was construed by this Court in its order dated 12-12-1996 in T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India and the action of the Uttar Pradesh Government in cutting down a veritable forest without the prior permission of the Central Government and this Court, was in gross violation of Section 2(ii) of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (hereafter "the FC Act"). The project involved massive constructions that were made without any prior environmental clearance from the Central Government based on environment impact assessment. The constructions were, therefore, in complete