The Supreme Court has ruled that a fresh public consultation must be conducted before granting environmental clearance for Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited’s Gare Palma Sector-II coal mine in Chhattisgarh. However, the top court clarified that ongoing mining operations will not be halted while the public consultation process is completed.
Supreme Court Directs Mandatory Public Hearing
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice V. Mohana held that the term “afresh” in a prior tribunal order strictly required regulatory authorities to conduct a new public consultation. Setting aside a lower tribunal decision that had approved the environmental clearance without holding a fresh public hearing, the apex court remitted the matter back to the National Green Tribunal. The tribunal has been directed to take up the case on August 3 to monitor the completion of the consultation process and issue a final order expeditiously.
Mining Operations Granted Interim Relief
Despite directing authorities to fulfill the public hearing requirement, the Supreme Court specified that MAHAGENCO will not face any restriction on its current mining activities. The bench observed that substantial compliance had already taken place, meaning the absence of a completed fresh public consultation so far does not constitute an impediment to the company’s ongoing operations.
Chronology of Environmental Clearances and Appeals
The legal proceedings stem from an initial environmental clearance granted to MAHAGENCO for the Gare Palma Sector-II project in July 2022. That clearance was challenged before the National Green Tribunal, which quashed it in January 2024 after finding deficiencies in the appraisal process. At that time, the tribunal ordered the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to re-examine the project starting from the stage of conducting a fresh public consultation.
Following the January 2024 ruling, MAHAGENCO resubmitted the project for evaluation. The ministry’s Expert Appraisal Committee reconsidered the proposal and issued a new environmental clearance in August 2024 without organizing a fresh public hearing, relying instead on video recordings, existing documentation, and further regulatory examination.
When petitioners challenged the August 2024 clearance, the tribunal upheld the approval in an order dated April 17, ruling that reviewing past hearing records satisfied the evaluation requirements. The petitioners subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court, which concluded that reviewing old recordings did not fulfill the obligation to conduct a new public consultation.
