Summary
A stainless steel cold-rolling unit in Kutch, Gujarat was set up on State Pollution Control Board consents, without prior environmental clearance under the EIA Notification, 2006. On a complaint, the National Green Tribunal held that clearance was required but, following the Expert Appraisal Committee, gave such units at least a year to obtain it. The Board later ordered the unit's closure. The Court held that the notification was ambiguous on whether re-rolling and cold-rolling mills needed clearance. About 1,689 such units had been set up on that understanding, and the ambiguity was removed only by the Central Government's notification of 20.7.2022. Following Pahwa Plastics, a compliant unit should not be closed for that technical lapse. The complainant's appeal was dismissed and the closure notice quashed.
Issues
- Whether the National Green Tribunal could allow a cold-rolling steel unit operating on State consents to continue while it obtained environmental clearance under the EIA Notification, 2006, instead of requiring prior clearance.
- Whether the State Pollution Control Board's closure notice to the unit could be sustained after the Central Government's notification of 20.7.2022 giving such units time to apply.
Provisions considered
- Section 21, National Green Tribunal Act, 2010Read with Ankita Sinha on the Tribunal's multifunctional role, Section 21 empowered it to give existing units a time-bound opportunity to come within the clearance regime, as recommended by the Expert Appraisal Committee. (¶¶ 13, 18, 19)
- Section 3; item 3(a) of the Schedule; notification dated 20.7.2022, Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; EIA Notification, 2006Item 3(a) was ambiguous on whether re-rolling and cold-rolling mills needed prior clearance. The 2022 notification under Section 3 resolved this and gave existing units a year to apply, so the closure could not stand. (¶¶ 9, 11, 14, 18, 24)
Held
- The Ministry, its expert committees and the Board treated item 3(a) of the EIA Notification as ambiguous for steel re-rolling and cold-rolling mills. Some 1,689 such units, 403 in Gujarat, had been set up on consents without prior clearance. The ambiguity was removed only by the Central Government's notification of 20.7.2022. (¶¶ 11, 14, 15, 18)
- The Tribunal's direction giving such units at least a year to obtain clearance followed the Expert Appraisal Committee's recommendation. It fell within its powers under Section 21 of the NGT Act, which, as Ankita Sinha holds, extend beyond mere adjudication to securing environmental justice. (¶¶ 18, 19)
- Following Pahwa Plastics, ex post facto clearance should not be granted routinely. But it cannot be refused with pedantic rigidity, and a unit set up on statutory approvals that contributes to the economy and livelihoods should not be closed for the technical want of prior clearance. Common Cause, Hanuman Laxman Aroskar and Alembic did not involve such admitted ambiguity. (¶¶ 20, 21, 22, 23)
- The complainant had singled out this export-oriented unit from among 1,689 similarly placed units, which suggested a motivated petition. Its closure had harmed both the unit and the country. As the 2022 notification gives it time to seek clearance, the closure notice could not be sustained. (¶ 24)
Result
The complainant's appeal is dismissed. The unit's application against the closure notice of 25.6.2021 is allowed and the notice quashed, and its appeal disposed of on those terms.