The Supreme Court has ruled decisively to stop the Union government from ex post facto legalising projects that did not get prior environmental clearance, using a set of regulations tailor-made to protect the violators. In a far-reaching order, the court held a 2017 notification and a 2021 office memorandum of the environment ministry illegal since they struck at the heart of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and the Environment Impact Assessment notification of 2006, both of which advance the fundamental right to life. Remarkably, the 2017 notification was issued to give environmental clearance for projects that had already been started or had expanded operations or changed the product mix without securing prior environmental clearance. The office memorandum exploited an opening available........

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