The Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea filed by Congress leader and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Jairam Ramesh against the grant of ex-post facto Environmental Clearances.

The Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi questioned the maintainability of the petition, noting that the Union's Office Memorandums (OMs) on the matter had already received judicial backing in the review judgment.

The Supreme Court with 2:1 majority had recalled its Judgment dated May 16, 2025 passed in the case of Vanashakti v. Union of India (2025 INSC 718), in which it struck down the 2017 notification and the 2021 Office Memorandum (OM) issued by the Central Government, which provided for the grant of ex post facto Environmental Clearances (EC), declaring them as illegal.
"Why have you filed a fresh petition...what kind of advantage do you want to have?... You very well know that a three-judge bench is there...After the judgment of October 2025, we are quite sure that the writ petition is not maintainable," Chief Justice Kant asked the Counsel representing Ramesh.

The Counsel said, "The cause of action is identified similar to matter in 302 (Item No. 302), if I may be allowed to list it with that...we are challenging OM of 2017, OM of 2021 and the recent OM of Jan 2026. The January's OM is the one which gives context to the Vanshakti order."

The Court said, "Therefore, you are challenging the review judgment...pls tell us on the maintainability, we know the design behind all these Writ Petitions, there is a judgment been set aside by a larger bench. Now you are essentially filing a review petition. You want to say through a Writ Petition that the judgment is wrong..."

The Counsel submitted, "I am saying it directly, two very limited things - post facto clearances are wrong, and the cause of action only arose after the judgment."

The Counsel further said, "I am coming under 136 because of extraordinary jurisdiction."

The Court, "Be ready for exemplary costs then."

The Counsel then requested the Court to withdraw the petition.

The Court ordered, "Learned Counsel seeks and is permitted to withdraw this Writ Petition, with liberty to avail remedy in accordance with law."

While dissenting over the recall of the judgment dated May 16, 2025, passed in the case of Vanashakti (Supra), Justice Ujjal Bhuyan remarked that the Supreme Court should not backtrack on the sound environmental jurisprudence.

Cause Title: Jairam Ramesh vs. Union of India [W.P.(C) No.190/2026]

CJI Surya KantJustice Joymalya Bagchi

Aastha Kaushik