The legal fiction that has helped India’s big environment violators

Why read this story?

Editor's note: What’s common between Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Tata Steel, LG Polymers and chemical companies in Haryana? All have something to do with engineering—that’s the obvious bit. What’s less common is their tryst with India’s environmental regulations. All of them have been violators of rules that deal with the setting up of large industries and infrastructure projects. And all have, as a result, sought or received the help of a curious piece of legal fiction that has been created by the government of India and recently got the support of the Supreme Court. This fiction is called the ex post facto prior clearance. Let’s break down the jumble of words: prior means before a certain fact, ex post facto means after a certain fact. Logically speaking, only one of these would apply in a particular context. How is it possible to do both? And why would that make sense? The companies and institutions violated the law by not seeking prior clearance under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006. It is an approval issued by the union ministry of environment, forest …