New Delhi: It’s not everyday that the Supreme Court recalls its verdict.

On Tuesday, the country’s top court set aside its previous judgment that barred the Centre from granting retrospective environmental clearances, thereby restoring the government’s power to issue retroactive approvals for projects that violated green norms. ADVERTISEMENT

The last notable example of Supreme Court recalling its verdict was in 2019 — the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act (2019). A three-judge bench withdrew a 2018 verdict that had diluted provisions of the SC/ST Act.

Popularly called the Vanashakti judgment, the earlier order was passed by a bench of Justice A S Oka (now retired) and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on May 16.

It said that backdated clearances were impermissible, as the right to live in a pollu

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