03 Jun 2025
This update highlights recent developments in Indian environmental law from May 2025, including judgments, legislative measures and regulatory actions.
Partner: Rajat Jariwal, Senior Associate: Gaurav Sharma, Associate: Dev Chand
The month of May 2025 saw some pivotal judicial pronouncements and significant regulatory updates. The Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment definitively striking down the practice of issuing ex-post facto (retrospective) Environmental Clearances (EC) and restraining the Central Government from making future legislative attempts to permit the grant of such clearances. It also affirmed the imposition of enhanced penalties for tree-felling activities in the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) and, separately, declared Zudpi jungles as protected forests, while providing a framework for existing communities to continue inhabiting and utilising the land. Concurrently, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) issued an ultimatum directing the Odisha government to either demolish unauthorised structures erected in the Deomali Hill area for ‘Eco-tourism’ or obtain requisite forest clearances.
On the regulatory front, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) simplified procedures for obtaining certificates of origin for cultivated medicinal plants through the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Rules, 2025. Additionally, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) issued draft guidelines for silica sand mining and washing plants, and for assessing Environmental Compensation under the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016, inviting comments from stakeholders. It also published a detailed standard operating procedure (SOP) and checklist for the utilisation of spent Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) in Para Amino Phenol manufacturing, enhancing oversight on hazardous waste management. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) mandated that all new and upcoming construction and demolition projects exceeding 500 square metres in area within the National Capital Region (NCR) must be registered on its dust control portal, in an attempt to combat construction dust emissions.
The key developments are discussed in detail below.
[1] Vanashakti v Union of India and Anr., W.P. (C) No. 1394 of 2023
[2] (2023) 6 SCC 615
[3] Common Cause v Union of India and Ors., (2017) 9 SCC 499
[4] Alembic Pharmaceuticals v Rohit Prajapati, (2020) 17 SCC 157
[5] M.C. Mehta v Union of India and Ors., W.P. (C) No. 13381 of 1984
[6] In Re: Zudpi Jungle Lands, T.N. Godavarman v Union of India and Ors., I.A. Nos. 12465 and 98194 of 2019, with I.A. Nos. 12781 and 127874 of 2020 with I.A. Nos. 44062, 66986 and 74569 of 2025 in W.P. (C) No. 202 of 1995
[7] Wildlife Society of Orissa v State of Odisha and Ors., O.A. No. 76/2023/EZ
[8] W.P. (C) No. 1164/2023
[9] https://www.dpcc.delhigovt.nic.in/uploads/news/43c7df9db152a17320f790f043b65124.pdf
[10] Draft Guidelines for Silica Sand Mining and washing plants(PDF)
[11] Guidelines for Imposition of EC under the “Hazardous & Other Wastes Second Amendment Rules, 2023”
[12] Procedure for Utilization of Hazardous Waste (PDF)
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