The Supreme Court on Wednesday quashed the Centre’s 2021 office memorandum that created a perpetual regime for grant of retrospective environmental clearances to projects that commenced work without obtaining prior green approval.Terming it “impermissible in law”, the Supreme Court said, “The memorandum does not satisfy the test of proportionality and reasonableness and is violative of Articles 14 (right to equality) and 21 (right to life, which includes right to clean environment) of the Constitution.”In a unanimous verdict, a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, however, gave some leeway to the government, saying that the judgment would apply prospectively and the projects granted environmental clearances earlier would remain undisturbed.“Clearances granted to project proponents under the 2017 notification and the 2021 memorandum till date shall remain valid, unless otherwise challenged on merits,” said the Bench, which also included Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M Pancholi.The top court restrained the government from issuing administrative orders in future for granting environmental clearances to projects that have commenced in contravention of the prior clearance regime under the 2006 notification.The verdict came on petitions, including review petitions, related to granting of retrospective environmental clearances to projects found violating green norms.The Bench reaffirmed that prior clearances were the governing rule under the environmental framework and projects could not ordinarily commence operations first and seek approval later.The top court, however, upheld the power of the Centre “to issue an appropriate narrowly tailored amnesty notification in supervening public interest as an exception to the 2006 notification.”