Under the EIA Notification, 2006, listed projects must get environmental clearance before starting work. Post-facto, or ex-post, clearance is approval granted after the fact to projects that began construction, expanded or changed their product mix without that prior permission.

In 2017, the government issued a one-time amnesty notification giving violators six months to disclose and seek appraisal. A 2021 office memorandum then set a standard procedure for such cases. The NGO Vanashakti challenged both, arguing retrospective clearances defeat the preventive purpose of environmental law.

The legal journey was long. In May 2025, the Supreme Court quashed the whole mechanism as illegal. On real-estate body CREDAI’s review petition, that ruling was recalled in November 2025. The final judgment came on July 29, 2026: a bench led by CJI Surya Kant held prior clearance is mandatory, quashed the 2021 office memorandum, but upheld the 2017 notification as a narrowly tailored, time-bound one-time measure.

Following this, the Environment Ministry’s September 30 order asked appraisal bodies to take pending, rejected or returned proposals to a logical conclusion. No fresh post-facto proposals will be accepted.