Vanashakti vs Union Of India - 2025 Supreme(SC) 858

Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2025 Supreme(SC) 858

ABHAY S. OKA, UJJAL BHUYAN
Vanashakti – Appellant
Versus
Union Of India – Respondent

Advocates appeared:
For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Adv. Mr. Vanshdeep Dalmia, AOR Ms. Anisha Jain, Adv. Ms. Shambhavi Singh, Adv. Ms. Trisha Chandran, Adv. Ms. Natasha Dalmia,Adv. Mr. Shourya Dasgupta,Adv. Mr. Dhaval Mehrotra, Adv. Mr. Rahul Garg, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Singh, Adv. Ms. Aditi Desai, Adv. M/S. K Ashar & Co., AOR Mr. Sanjay Parikh, Sr. Adv. Ms. Sanjana Grace Thomas, Adv. Ms. Kritika, Adv. Mr. D.P. Singh, Adv. Ms. Tara Elizabeth Kurien, Adv. Ms. Srishti Agnihotri, AOR Mr. T.V.S. Raghavendra Sreyas, Adv. Mr. Naveen Hegde, AOR
For the Respondent(s):Ms. Aishwariya Bhati, A.S.G. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv. Ms. Swarupama Chaturvedi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR Mr. Ketan Paul, Adv. Mr. Rajat Nair, Adv. Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Adv. Mr. Rohan Gupta, Adv. Ms. Sharmishtha Shukla, Adv. Mr. Abhinav Aggarwal, Adv. Mr. Vinay Navare, Sr. Adv. Mr. Saket Mone, Adv. Ms. Anshula Vijay Kumar Grover, AOR Mr. Lenpithang Sithlou, Adv. Mr. Vanshdeep Dalmia, AOR Mr. T.V.S. Raghavendra Sreyas, AOR Mr. Naveen Hegde, Adv. Mrs. Gayatri Gulati, Adv. Mr. Prabhat Ranjan Raj, AOR Mr. Devadatt Kamat, Sr. Adv. Mr. Ayush P Shah, Adv. Mr. Arijit Dey, Adv. Mr. Mehul Kumar Garg, Adv. Mr. Nishanth Patil, AOR Dr. A.M. Singhvi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Mahesh Agarwal, Adv. Mr. Arshit Anand, Adv. Mr. Shashwat Singh, Adv. Mr. Siddhant Sahay, Adv. Mr. E.C. Agrawala, AOR Mr. Anuj Bhandari, AOR M/S. S-legal Associates, AOR Mr. Atmaram N.S. Nadkarini, Sr. Adv. Mr. Samit Shukla, Adv. Ms. Saakshi Saboo, Adv. M/S. Trilegal Advocates On Record, AOR Mr. Tarun Gupta, AOR Mr. Satyajit A. Desai, Adv. Mr. Abhinav K. Mutyalwar, Adv. Mrs. Anagha S. Desai, Adv. Ms. Neha Bhosale, Adv. Ms. Anuja Divadkar, Adv. Mr. Yashwant Singh, Adv. Mr. Satya Kam Sharma, AOR Ms. Shivangi Bhatwadekar,Adv. Ms. Laveena Tejwani,Adv. Mr. Pallav Mongia, AOR Ms. Mayuri Raghuvanshi, AOR Mr. Vyom Raghuvanshi, Adv. Ms. Akanksha Rathore, Adv. Ms. Kinjal Sharma, Adv. Mr. V. Chitambaresh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Karthik S.D., AOR Mr. C. Govind Venugopal, Adv. Mr. Siddhant Kohli, Adv. Mr. Kaustabh Bhattacharjee, Adv. Ms. Garima Jain, AOR Mr. Sanjay Upadhyay, Sr. Adv. Mr. Shubham Upadhyay, AOR Ms. Mansi Bachani, Adv. Mr. Anand Varma, AOR Ms. Apoorva Pandey, Adv. Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, Sr. Adv. Mr. Vivek Chib, Sr. Adv. Mr. Vipul Ganda, Adv. Mr. Kunal Cheema, AOR Ms. Anuradha Arputham, Adv. Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, ASG Mr. Gudapati G. Kashyap, Adv. Ms. Manisha Ambwani, AOR Mr. Sandeep Sudhakar Deshmukh, AOR Mr. Nishant Sharma, Adv. Mr. Ankur S. Savadikar, Adv. Mr. Kunal Mimani, AOR Mr. Amar Dave, Sr. Adv. Ms. Nandini Gore, Adv. Ms. Sonia Nigam, Adv. Mr. Akhil Abraham Roy, Adv. Mr. Mohammad Shahyan Khan, Adv. For M/S. Karanjawala & Co., AOR Ms. Charanya Lakshmikumaran, AOR Mr. Yogendra Aldak, Adv. Ms. Tamanna Sharma, Adv. Ms. Bhavya Shukla, Adv. Ms. Neha Choudhary, Adv. Ms. Umang Motiyani, Adv. Mr. Ayush Agarwal, Adv. Ms. Nandini Gore, Adv. Ms. Sonia Nigam, Adv. Mr. Akhil Abraham Roy, Adv. Mr. Mohammad Shahyan Khan, Adv. Mr. Anil Kumar Verma, AOR Mr. Aditya Soni, AOR Mr. A. Karthik, AOR

Table of Content
1. introduction of environmental laws in india. (Para 1 , 2 , 3)
2. growth of industrialization and related legislation. (Para 4 , 5 , 6)
3. challenges to ex post facto environmental clearances. (Para 9 , 10 , 11)
4. court's analysis of the 2017 and 2021 notifications. (Para 12 , 15 , 16)
5. clearance provisions under environmental laws must precede project initiation. (Para 13)
6. implications of ex post facto clearance measures. (Para 20 , 21 , 24)
7. retrospective environmental clearances undermine legal and environmental protections. (Para 27)
8. the right to a healthy environment is a fundamental constitutional right. (Para 32 , 35)
9. conclusion and order regarding notifications and environmental clearances. (Para 36 , 37)

JUDGMENT :

ABHAY S. OKA, J.

1. Part IV-A of the Constitution of India containing fundamental duties as set out in Article 51A was incorporated in the Constitution by the 42nd Amendment Act with effect from 3rd January 1977. Clause (g) of Article 51A provides that it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures. This C

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2025 Supreme(SC) 858

ABHAY S. OKA, UJJAL BHUYANVanashakti – AppellantVersusUnion Of India – Respondent

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ABHAY S. OKA, UJJAL BHUYAN
Vanashakti – Appellant
Versus
Union Of India – Respondent