The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has proposed a way to retrospectively grant clearances to industries, miners and others who began operations without the mandatory prior clearance, under the Environment Protection Act, 1986. The ministry had earlier failed in its attempt before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to defend an administrative order passed by the preceding United Progressive Alliance (UPA) administration, which did the same through an even simpler mechanism.

The NGT threw the order out on several grounds. The ministry put out a draft notification ...