Talli Gram Panchayat Vs Union of India & Ors. (Supreme Court of India)
EC Uploaded? Limitation Triggered- Earliest Disclosure Starts the Clock: No Waiting for RTI- SC Tightens Limitation for EC Appeals- : SC Says Limitation Runs from First Public Communication
The Supreme Court examined when the limitation period begins for filing an appeal before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) under Section 16(h) of the NGT Act, 2010, specifically in cases challenging an Environmental Clearance (EC). The key issue was what constitutes “communication” of an EC to “any person aggrieved.”
The Court held that the EC must be communicated to the public at large, not merely the project applicant, because environmental matters are public law issues. Under the Environmental Protection Act, EIA Notification 2006, and NGT’s precedents (Save Mon; Medha Patkar), multiple authorities—MoEF&CC, the project proponent, and Pollution Control Boards—carry concurrent duties to publish or disclose the EC. Since these communications occur on different dates (website uploads, newspaper notices, local body display, etc.), limitation begins from the earliest date on which any duty bearer completes a valid communication.
In this case, the EC granted on 05.01.2017 was uploaded on MoEF&CC’s official website on the same day, which constituted complete public communication. The project proponent also submitted the EC to Panchayats on 09.01.2017 and issued newspaper notices on 11.01.2017, but these later dates cannot postpone limitation. Thus, the 30-day appeal period began on 05.01.2017, and even with the maximum condonable extension of 90 days, the appellant’s filing on 19.04.2017 was time-barred.
The Court rejected the Panchayat’s argument that limitation should run from the date on which it received EC information via RTI (14.02.2017), calling it a mere attempt to circumvent statutory limitation. It further clarified that the project proponent is not required to publish the entire EC order verbatim—publishing the fact of grant and directing the public to official websites suffices.
The Supreme Court affirmed the NGT’s finding that the appeal was filed beyond the maximum permissible period and dismissed the civil appeal, holding that limitation must operate with full rigor.
FULL TEXT OF THE SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT/ORDER
