Confederation of Real Estate Developers of India (CREDAI) vs. Vanashakti
Background
CREDAI sought review of the Supreme Court's own judgment dated 16th May 2025 in Vanashakti v. Union of India ("JUR"), which had restricted the grant of ex-post-facto environmental clearances (ECs) to projects that commenced construction without prior clearance. Several other parties, including the Union of India, NMDC, the State of Telangana, and Karnataka Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, had also filed connected review petitions and applications seeking modification of the same judgment, all considered together with this lead petition.
Decision Breakdown
By a 2:1 majority, the Court allowed the review petition. Chief Justice Gavai, in the lead opinion, held that the JUR had not adequately considered binding precedents (including Common Cause, Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Electrosteel Steels, D. Swamy, and Pahwa Plastics) that favoured a balanced approach, recognising that once projects like the CAPFIMS hospital access road were already built, demolition would harm public interest and waste public resources more than a calibrated penalty-and-remediation approach would. The judgment and order dated 16th May 2025 was recalled, and the underlying writ petitions and appeal were restored to file. Justice K. Vinod Chandran concurred, finding the earlier judgment had failed to properly consider Electrosteel, Pahwa, and D. Swamy. Justice Ujjal Bhuyan dissented, holding that the review was unwarranted, that individual applicants' concerns could have been addressed through clarification rather than recalling the entire judgment, and that the majority view risked diluting the precautionary principle central to environmental jurisprudence.
Lesson Learnt
Even a Supreme Court judgment can be reviewed and recalled if the Court later finds that binding precedents were not properly considered, but such review is an exceptional remedy, and this case shows the tension between strict environmental compliance and pragmatic relief once large public infrastructure projects are already built.