Supreme Court seeks government response on 700 heat wave deaths in 2024

Following a plea highlighting 700 heatwave deaths last year, India’s Supreme Court served a notice to the Centre seeking its response to the escalating heat wave crisis linked to climate change, reported Business Standard.

A bench led by Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih issued notices to key government agencies, including the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The court asked them to respond within two weeks.

The petition was filed by environmental activist Vikrant Tongad, who called for urgent steps such as a nationwide action plan, heat alerts, early warning systems, and 24/7 helplines to prevent heat-related tragedies. 

SC bans retrospective environment permits

The Supreme Court struck down the Centre’s memorandums and notifications that allowed retrospective environmental clearances to projects that began without mandatory approvals, declaring them illegal. The top court said, development cannot come at the cost of the environment, reported HT. Experts said the verdict reinforces the sanctity of the environmental assessments process for construction and mining work and the principle of precautionary protection. 

Justice Oka, the head of the bench, said : “The persons who acted without clearances were not illiterate persons. They are companies, real estate developers, public sector undertakings, mining industries… who knowingly committed the illegalities.” Justice Oka added : “thereafter the Central Government shall not come out with any version of the 2017 notification which provides for grant of ex-post facto EC (environment clearance)”. Environmental clearances already granted under the now-invalidated rules would remain unaffected.

Punjab farmers await HC decision on hybrid paddy ban, as sowing window grows smaller

The Punjab and Haryana High Court reserved its decision in the crucial case of the state government’s decision to ban hybrid paddy cultivation to stop depletion of groundwater level.

The decision left farmers frustrated even as more than half of the time required for growing paddy nurseries has already passed, reported IE.  Farmers told the newspaper that the court should announce its decision as soon as possible so that they can decide which variety to plant this season.

Punjab banned the cultivation of hybrid paddy and the popular Pusa-44 variety to tackle the state’s worsening groundwater crisis and mitigate environmental damage, reported DTE. The decision, announced by the Agriculture Department on April 7, 2025, sparked controversy and is now under judicial review, the report said.

The petitioners approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, arguing that the state lacked the authority to impose such a ban. The court is expected to hear the matter on May 19, 2025.

SC to states, UTs : ‘Take back forest land illegally allotted to private entities, within a year’

In a historic verdict, India’s Supreme Court directed the chief secretaries of all the states and the the Union Territories to constitute special investigation teams to probe whether any of the reserved forest land in the possession of the revenue department has been allotted to any private individuals / institutions for any purpose other than the forestry purpose, reported DTE

The top court also directed states and UTs to initiate actions to reclaim reserved forest land from individuals or institutions currently holding it and transfer it to the forest department.

If reclaiming the land is deemed not to serve the broader public interest, the state governments or UTs should collect the cost of the land from the individuals or institutions it was allocated to and utilise the funds for forest development, according to the order.

UN climate chief calls on countries to submit NDC targets

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell called on the world’s countries to submit their new national climate change plans for the period up to 2035.

Stiell said the plans must be submitted by September at the latest. Only then can they be included in the UN report to be published before the world climate conference in Belém, Brazil, in November. 
“Climate policy can help get trade flowing and economies growing. And prevent wildly destructive climate impacts. Providing signals from governments to markets. To those investors ready to hit the ‘go’ button on huge investments. That’s why a new generation of national climate plans — or NDCs — are utterly essential,” Stiell said. Corrêa do Lago called on signatories to the Paris Agreement to be ambitious. The targets put forward by individual countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions must be as ambitious as possible, he said.

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