The Kerala High Court has disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) of 2015, which challenged the environmental clearance granted to the Athirappilly Hydro Electric Project.
The petitioner sought to quash the environmental clearance and restrain the project’s implementation.
The PIL followed an earlier petition of 2007, which was disposed of in 2015 due to the expiration of the initial environmental clearance.
The bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice S. Manu noted that the Ministry of Environment extended the clearance validity until 2017, but no further clearance was granted, and the project remained stagnant.
Citing the identical circumstances of the 2015 judgment, the court disposed of the PIL with the same liberty, allowing the petitioner to challenge any future clearance.