NGT vs UP Pollution Control Board — Noida wetlands waste dumping case

The Supreme Court issued a judgment on May 16, 2025, declaring post-facto or retrospective environmental clearances granted by the Centre to building projects and constructions as illegal. A majority judgment on November 18, 2025, subsequently recalled that May verdict. The case concerns the validity of ex post facto environmental clearances under environmental protection law.

A writ petition filed before the High Court at Madras challenging environmental protection matters and compliance with environment norms. The case was decided by the High Court and involved NGT directions regarding violations of environment norms.

The Supreme Court delivered a verdict against ex post facto environmental clearances, emphasizing that prior environmental approval must be obtained before project commencement and that public interest considerations must be prioritized in future projects. The Court recognized narrow constitutional exceptions for national defence, urgent healthcare facilities, and remote area connectivity.

A 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gang-raped and murdered in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh in September 2020. The CBI filed a chargesheet in December 2020 against four accused persons. In March 2023, an SC/ST court acquitted three of the four accused; one was convicted of culpable homicide, and gang-rape charges were dropped against all accused.

The Supreme Court quashed an SC/ST Act offence against a school manager accused of assaulting and hurling caste-based abuses. The Court held that caste abuse in an enclosed space and without a specific caste-based utterance in public view does not constitute an offence under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

A case involving charges under Sections 304B and 498A IPC related to dowry death. The Allahabad High Court reviewed the conviction and reduced the sentences to time already undergone, noting that life imprisonment is not automatic in dowry death cases.