Centre allows pause in environmental clearance validity during court stays, experts raise concerns
New Delhi: The Union environment ministry has decided that the period during which infrastructure projects remain stalled due to court proceedings or cases before the National Company Law Tribunal will not be counted towards the expiry of their environmental clearances. The move is expected to benefit several large projects currently held up in litigation, including the Great Nicobar Holistic Development Project.
The decision, issued through an office memorandum on October 30, states that delays caused by legal challenges are beyond the control of project developers, and often lead to environmental clearances expiring before construction or production can begin. Under existing rules, if a project does not start operations or complete construction within the validity period of the clearance, a fresh clearance is required which is a process that can add further delays.
The ministry said the validity period will now be adjusted to exclude the duration of litigation or insolvency proceedings, effectively treating that time as “zero period” for calculating the clearance validity. The change, it said, is intended to “rationalise” the timeline so that project proponents are not penalised for delays arising from legal disputes.
However, where litigation-related delays stretch beyond three years, state pollution control boards will be required to review site conditions and may add additional safeguards at the stage of issuing Consent to Operate.
The decision comes even as key projects under litigation continue to face scrutiny. The Great Nicobar project is under challenge before the National Green Tribunal, while several hydropower projects in Uttarakhand have remained stayed by the Supreme Court since 2013.
Mallika Bhanot who is a member of the Ganga Ahvaan collective has criticised the relaxation, saying that in regions such as Uttarakhand, where landscapes have changed significantly due to repeated disasters, an older clearance may no longer reflect current ecological realities. “To consider earlier clearances as valid in a post-disaster Himalayan state will have severe ramifications,” she said.
Debadityo Sinha of the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy said the new provision alters a core condition laid out in the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006, which has the force of law under the Environment (Protection) Act. “An office memorandum cannot override a statutory notification,” he said, adding that the move could dilute accountability and allow projects previously flagged for violations to benefit from ongoing stays.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
