Kerala High Court stays NGT order quashing SEIAA clearance for phase 3 of Taurus Downtown Trivandrum project

The Kerala High Court has stayed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order setting aside the environmental clearance granted by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SIEAA) for the third phase of the Taurus Downtown Trivandrum project in a non-Special Economic Zone (SEZ). [M/s Dragonstone Realty Private Limited v State Environment Impact Assessment Authority & Anr.]..The stay order was passed on Wednesday and will operate for a month.Justice N Nagaresh stayed the May 30 NGT order on a plea by Dragonstone Realty Private Limited, a real estate business company that was the project proponent behind Taurus Downtown.Taurus Downtown is a mixed-use office, retail, residential, and hotel development located at the heart of Technopark in Trivandrum.On May 30, the Chennai bench of the NGT halted work in phase 3 of the project on a plea by an environmentalist. The NGT concluded that the environmental clearance for the third phase of the project was split, with the SEIAA giving clearance for the expansion of the project and the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) having given clearance for the main project. This violated the Supreme Court's ruling in Keystone Realtors Pvt. Ltd. v. Anil Tharthare and ors, the NGT said. .The NGT ultimately set aside the SEIAA environment clearance and imposed a penalty of ₹15 crores on Dragonstone Realty Private Limited. The tribunal also asked the MoEFCC to take action against the SEIAA officials responsible for giving clearance for the expansion. Dragonstone was also ordered not to carry out any expansion of the project without obtaining an environmental clearance.Dragonstone has now challenged this order, contending that the NGT order was without jurisdiction and that it ignored admitted facts and the law in a patently illegal and arbitrary manner.The company also asserted that it had completely complied with the Supreme Court's directions in the Keystone Realtors case, as opposed to the NGT's erroneous finding that the project violated this judgment. On August 16, the High Court passed an interim stay on the NGT ruling after noting that the SEIAA clearance in the matter indicated that such clearance was given after a comprehensive analysis. The judge also factored in the SEIAA's submission that the matter was examined comprehensively and that there was no question of splitting up the project."There will be an interim order staying operation of Ext.P1 (NGT order) for a period of one month," the Court proceeded to direct. .Dragonstone Realty Private Limited was represented by advocates Enoch David Simon Joel, S Sreedev, Rony Jose, Leo Lukose, Karol Mathews Sebastian Alencherry, and DericK Mathew Saji..[Read Order]