JUDGMENT :

Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, J

1. This appeal under Section 22 of the National Green Tribunal Act 2010¹[“NGT Act”] arises from a judgment dated 2 August 2013 of the National Green Tribunal²[“NGT”], at its Central Zone Bench in Bhopal.

2. In April 2007, the seventh respondent, Steel Authority of India³[“SAIL”], and Jayprakash Associates entered into a Memorandum of Association to establish a cement grinding unit of 2.2 MTPA capacity at Bhilai, Chhattisgarh. In pursuance of this goal, they set up the tenth respondent, Bhilai Jaypee Cement Limited. A parcel of land admeasuring 34.59 acres belonging to SAIL, falling in the villages of Hingna and Maroda at Bhilai in District Durg, was leased out to the tenth respondent for thirty years, based on a long-term lease dated 16 June 2007. The land use of this parcel of land had been designated as “green belt” in the 1991 Development Plan of Bhilai. On the tenth respondent’s application, an Environmental Clearance⁴[“EC”] was granted to their project of the cement grinding unit on 1 May 2008⁵[Letter No J-1101111000112007-IA-ll(I)] by the second respondent, the then Ministry of Environment and Forests. It was subsequently published in news