SC overturns NGT order, puts brakes on Silchar airport project

The Supreme Court on Monday put on hold all further work on the proposed greenfield airport at Doloo in Assam’s Silchar noting that no environmental clearance had been obtained for the project.

A three-judge bench presided by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud set aside the NGT order dismissing the plea challenging the project on the ground that it was devoid of merits at that stage as the Environment Impact Assessment was still awaited. It directed that “there shall be no activity shall be tendered in breach of the notification date of September 14, 2006.”

Overruling the objections, the court said “there has been a complete abdication of duties by the NGT”. It added that “as an expert body formed by a Statute enacted by the Parliament in the interest of the preservation of the environment, it was the duty of the Tribunal to verify the the grievance of the appellants’ ‘.