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In Re: T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of India & Ors. (I.A. No. 3949 of 2016)

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2023 INSC 442Decided 28 Apr 2023
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 202 of 1995
B.R. Gavai · Vikram Nath

Background

In the Supreme Court's ongoing T.N. Godavarman forest-protection litigation, a bench of three judges had ruled on 26 April 2023 that mining is banned inside National Parks/Wildlife Sanctuaries and within one kilometre of their boundary, applying this rule pan-India (extending a rule earlier limited to Goa). Within days, a mining lease holder, M/s Puntambekar Minerals (which had been granted a mining lease near the Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra back in 2005, subject to environmental clearances) filed an application asking the Court to clarify that its planned mining site, located beyond one kilometre from the sanctuary boundary (though still inside the Eco-Sensitive Zone), would be permitted.

Decision Breakdown

The Court rejected the applicant's request. It clarified that the one-kilometre buffer rule around protected areas exists only to cover situations where the notified Eco-Sensitive Zone is itself narrower than one kilometre. It is a minimum safety margin, not a cap. Where the ESZ extends beyond one kilometre (as here), any activity that is prohibited inside the ESZ under the applicable government guidelines and the specific ESZ notification remains prohibited, regardless of the one-kilometre distance. Since commercial mining is explicitly listed as a prohibited activity within Eco-Sensitive Zones under the 2011 central guidelines and the Radhanagari ESZ notification, mining could not proceed merely because the site happened to be more than a kilometre from the sanctuary's boundary. The Court also noted that its own 26 April 2023 judgment (from a three-judge bench) was binding and left no room for a different outcome for this applicant.

Lesson Learnt

A permission or clearance obtained years ago does not override supervening restrictions, and a distance-based buffer rule (like "one kilometre from a sanctuary") is a floor, not a ceiling. If a wider no-mining zone (an Eco-Sensitive Zone) already covers the area, mining stays banned there even beyond that one-kilometre mark.

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

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