The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Himachal Pradesh government to proceed with its draft development plan for 22,450 hectares of the Shimla Planning Area (SPA), which was banned by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), as the top court said no fetters can be imposed on development as long as the authorities complied with the regulations and environmental concerns.

“It also cannot be ignored that the development plan has been finalised after undergoing the rigorous process including that of inviting objections and suggestions at two stages, giving the hearing to such objectors and suggesters and after considering the same.

“If any of the citizen has any grievance that any provision is detrimental to the environment or ecology, it is always open to raise a challenge to such an independent provision before the appropriate forum. Such a challenge can be considered in accordance with law. But, in our view, the development plan, which has been finalised after taking recourse to the statutory provisions and undergoing the rigours thereto, cannot be stalled in entirety thereby putting the entire developmental activities to a standstill,” a bench of Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Aravind Kumar said in a 100-page judgment.

The apex court passed the verdict while allowing an appeal filed by the Himachal Pradesh government and its other town-planning authorities challenging the May 12, 2022, order of the NGT, which had stayed the notification and restrained the state from taking any further steps in pursuance of the draft development plan.

The NGT had passed the order on a petition filed by an aggrieved citizen, Yogendra Mohan Sengupta, who alleged that the proposed plan by the Himachal Town and Country Planning Act, 1977, was fraught with grave environmental concerns. The petitioner had raised concern that if the plan was allowed to be executed, it would result in calamities like frequent landslides because of floods and earthquakes, cloudbursts and other natural disasters.