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Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) vs. Union of India & Ors.

Not available · 2025 INSC 1112Decided 12 Sept 2025
Not available
Justice J.B. Pardiwala · Justice R. Mahadevan

Background

CREDAI (the apex body of India's private real estate developers), along with Godrej Properties Ltd. and Sai Sahara Developers Ltd., appealed under Section 22 of the NGT Act against a 2024 order of the National Green Tribunal (Bhopal). The NGT had ruled that building and construction projects within 5 km of protected/eco-sensitive areas, critically polluted zones, or inter-state boundaries must be treated as "Category A" projects needing central-level environmental appraisal, and that a 2014 notification exempting such projects from certain "General Conditions" had been quashed by the Kerala High Court, reviving the stricter 2006 conditions. The developers argued this exemption should still apply and that the NGT's order would cause indefinite project delays.

Decision Breakdown

While these appeals were pending, the Central Government issued a fresh notification dated 29.01.2025 (with a clarificatory Office Memorandum dated 30.01.2025) revising the environmental clearance framework. A coordinate Bench of the Supreme Court had already ruled on a separate writ petition challenging that same 2025 notification, upholding it except for one problematic exemption ("Note 1" to Entry 8(a), which exempted industrial sheds, schools, colleges and hostels), which was struck down as arbitrary, since large construction projects for such purposes have the same environmental impact as any other. Following judicial propriety, the present Bench agreed with and adopted that coordinate Bench's ruling: the 2025 notification (minus Note 1) was upheld, the earlier NGT order no longer survived for consideration, and all the appeals were disposed of on those terms with no order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

Environmental clearance exemptions carved out for industries or educational institutions cannot be used to escape scrutiny when the underlying activity, large-scale construction, has the same ecological footprint as any other project; and courts generally defer to a coordinate Bench's fresh ruling on the same notification rather than re-deciding identical issues.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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