No green clearance: HC orders shutdown of 12 Adani SEZ units

In a major setback to the Adani Group, a division bench of the Gujarat High Court on Monday held that around 20-22 units at Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) were functioning illegally without any environmental clearance (EC). The court has ordered a shutdown of 12 units in Adani Ports and SEZ with immediate effectas these had violated its earlier order of May 2012.

The 12 manufacturing units of the special economic zone run by Adani Ports and SEZ in Mundra will be shut down till Ministry of Environment & Forest grants it environment clearance within the next 30 days.

The High Court order is in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by residents of Navinal Village, located inside the SEZ.

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The petitioners had alleged violation of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006, by the company and units inside the SEZ.

In 2012, local villagers had moved a PIL against the SEZ, following which a division bench of the high court had ordered to close those units.

The high court directed the manufacturing units to not undertake any construction or operational or manufacturing activity till environmental clearance is granted to Mundra Special Economic Zone.

However, the units continued functioning there, following which the villagers had moved a fresh PIL in 2013. They sought to stop any activity within the SEZ and also demanded to demolish the 20-22 units. They also sought punitive action against government officers who were responsible for non-implementation of the 2012 HC order under the provisions of the Contempt of Courts Act.

[caption id="attachment_710952" align="alignleft" width="380"] File photo of Adani project in Gujarat.[/caption]

"There shall not be any further activity in the form of construction, etc, including the functioning of the units in the area in question," the division bench said.

"APSEZ has no environmental clearance and the units are operating in the absence of a valid environmental clearance from the Central Government," the court said, adding that APSEZ must obtain environmental clearance first.

"According to the Environment Impact Assessment notification, 2006, in order to have right of creation of infrastructural facilities over the land allotted, prior approval of the Central Government is necessary before making any construction, and without having acquired such right, the APSEZ, the allottee from the government, could not have conveyed such rights to its lessee," the court said.

The judges also directed the Centre to decide, within a month, whether the environmental clearance should be granted.

In a statement, the Adani Group said: "The Court has directed the MoEF to decide on granting of EC (environmental clearance) to Mundra SEZ within 30 days." None of the berths at the Mundra Port has been affected and operations are normal, it added.

With inputs from PTI