The Supreme Court, in a majority decision on Tuesday (November 18, 2025),
cancelled its earlier ruling from May 16. In that earlier judgment, the court
had said that giving ex post facto or retrospective Environmental Clearances
(EC)—that is, permissions given after a project has already started—was a
serious wrongdoing and completely unacceptable.
However, in the new judgment, the Supreme Court has taken back that earlier view.
This means the court has now reversed its previous stance on whether the central
government can grant environmental approvals to building and construction
projects after they have already begun.