New Delhi: India’s apex green court, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), has said that it will only place on record those parts of a report on the Great Nicobar island projects that have been made public. Excerpts which have been withheld and not been made available even to a petitioner on the issue — by citing “strategic and national importance” and submitted in a sealed cover to the NGT — will not be referred to in its proceedings, the Tribunal said in an order on November 21, according to news reports by the Indian Express and Hindustan Times.

The report in question is the final report of a high-powered committee (HPC) under the Union environment ministry that revisited the environmental clearance granted for the Great Nicobar projects. 

HPC report in sealed cover

The NGT had set up the HPC under the Union environment ministry in 2023 to examine “unanswered deficiencies” in the slew of developmental projects worth around Rs 81,000 crore that the Union government has proposed on the Great Nicobar island in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago.

These include an international transshipment terminal, a township, a power plant and a greenfield airport. The Union environment ministry had given clearance for these projects — which will involve cutting down nearly a million rainforest trees on the island across 130 sq kms — in November 2022. However, ecologists, environmentalists, activists and citizens have repeatedly raised concerns about the impacts that the projects will have on both the people and wildlife on the island.  

Following petitions, the HPC was to revisit the clearances afforded by the ministry for the projects. The ministry had submitted the final report by the HPC in a sealed cover to the NGT on October 30 this year. 

Sealed cover should be ‘deprecated’

On November 19, environmentalist and founder of NGO Kalpavriksh, Ashish Kothari, had petitioned the NGT that the Union environment ministry furnish a copy of the complete report, along with enclosures, of the HPC, “in the interest of principles of natural justice”. 

The HPC had submitted its report in a sealed cover on October 30; this “ought to be deprecated”, the petitioner had said. 

“The respondent’s contention that the HPC report cannot be disclosed because it is of ‘strategic and national importance and has confidential and privileged information ’ is without merit and contrary to the facts…When the entire clearance process and documents including EIAs, project layout and masterplan etc. are in public domain, how can the exercise to 'revisit' the clearance become confidential? This specious claim has been raised only to avoid scrutiny of their actions and judicial review,” Kothari had petitioned in his interlocutory application to the NGT on November 19. 

'Won’t place withheld info on record': NGT

On November 21, the NGT said that only the parts of the final report of the HPC that have been made public would be placed on record. Excerpts of the report which have been withheld and not been made available even to the petitioner on the issue — by citing “strategic and national importance” — will not be referred to, the Tribunal said in its order, according to the Indian Express. The Hindustan Times reported that the NGT said that it will only refer to pleadings on record filed by the respective parties.

“Submission of learned Counsel for the Applicant is that either a copy of the report of the High-Powered Committee should be supplied to the Counsel for the Applicant or the adjudication of the OA should be limited to the pleadings on record filed by the respective parties. He further submits that consideration of such a report without supplying a copy thereof to the Applicant would violate the principle of natural justice. He has further submitted that there was no plea of national security raised in the matter, therefore, the oral argument in this regard for denying a copy of the report should not be accepted,” HT quoted, from the order.

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