High Court quashes nod to Hiranandani power project

The court has asked the SEAC to reconsider its recommendation to the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) with respect to the project as expeditiously as possible.

A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and R D Dhanuka quashed the permissions on the grounds that the company had not disclosed to the SEAC that they had also filed an application before the Central Environment Ministry,which was pending at the time. Justice Chandrachud also noted that since the SEIAA ruling was based on the SEAC recommendation,that would also be vitiated. The judges said in their order that the SEIAA decision “does not reflect application of mind.” While the recommendation of the SEAC was passed on April 16,2010,the SEIAA approval was dated February 22,2012.

In its order,the court also took note of the fact that the decision was taken in the absence of the petitioners. The public interest litigation in the case was filed by Navlakh Umbre Paryavaran Parisar Vikas Sangh — a group of villagers who would be directly affected by the project.

While asking the state authority to reconsider its decision,the judges declined to express opinion with respect to allegations against the project proponent. They will,however,decide on Friday whether to stay the order to enable the company to appeal against it in the apex court.