India, Nov. 18 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday, by a 2-1 majority, recalled its May 16 judgment that had barred the grant of ex-post-facto environment clearance (EC) to development projects, holding that the ruling failed to consider binding earlier precedent and thereby violated judicial discipline.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran, writing separate but concurring opinions, allowed a batch of review petitions and declared that the May verdict, delivered by a two-judge bench of justices Abhay S Oka (since retired) and Ujjal Bhuyan, could not stand in the face of earlier Supreme Court rulings that had recognised limited situations where post-facto EC may be permissible.

He added that decisions in ...