In Brief
Three pharmaceutical manufacturers in Gujarat operated industrial units for years without mandatory prior environmental clearances (ECs) required under the 1994 EIA notification. The Government's 2002 circular allowing "ex post facto" or retrospective clearances was challenged before the NGT and struck down. This Supreme Court appeal upheld that ex post facto clearances violate environmental jurisprudence and the precautionary principle. However, rather than closing operational factories with valid subsequent ECs and thousands of employees, the Court imposed substantial compensation of ₹10 crores per company for environmental restoration, balancing accountability with practical proportionality.
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