Full text of the judgment
Text extracted from In Re : T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of India & Ors.. For the authoritative version refer to the Supreme Court of India's official website.
1 REVISED (*) ITEM NO.51 COURT NO.1 SECTION PIL-W S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s). 202/1995 IN RE : T.N. GODAVARMAN THIRUMULPAD Petitioner(s) VERSUS UNION OF INDIA & ORS. Respondent(s) Date : 13-04-2026 This petition was called on for hearing today. CORAM : HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JOYMALYA BAGCHI For Petitioner(s) :By Courts Motion, AOR Mr. T. Harish Kumar, AOR M/S. Mitter & Mitter Co., AOR M/S. Lawyer S Knit & Co, AOR Mr. Chanchal Kumar Ganguli, AOR M/S. Plr Chambers And Co., AOR Mr. Syed Mehdi Imam, AOR Mr. Pritam Singh, Adv. Mr. Umesh Kumar Shukla, Adv. Mr. Bikash Chandra, Adv. Mr. Kamlesh Kumar Maurya, Adv. Mr. Hemant Kumar Bhargava, Adv. Mr. Ravi Kumar Mehta, Adv. Mr. K.K. Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Ankit B., Adv.
For Respondent(s) :Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv. Ms. Suhashini Sen, Adv. Mr. Raghav Sharma, Adv. Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv. Mr. Baij Nath Patel, Adv. Mr. Rohan Gupta, Adv. Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv. Mr. Raghav Sharma, Adv. Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv. Mr. Baij Nath Patel, Adv. Ms. Suhashini Sen, Adv. Digitally signed by Jayant Kumar Arora Date: 2026.06.02 16:43:03 IST Reason: Signature Not Verified
2 Mr. Sudarshan Lamba, AOR
Mr. Raj Kishor Choudhary, AOR Mr. Shakeel Ahmed, Adv. Mr. Vikram Patralekh, Adv. Ms. Shalini Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Himanshu Gupta Is, Adv. Mr. Shivam Yadav, Adv. Mr. Waseem Akhtar Khan, Adv. Mr. Vineet Jindal, Adv. Mr. Ranjan Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv.
Mr. Gaichangpou Gangmei, AOR Ms. Hemantika Wahi, AOR Mr. Mohd. Irshad Hanif, AOR Mr. Punit Dutt Tyagi, AOR Mr. Rathin Das, AOR Mr. Ratan Kumar Choudhuri, AOR Mr. Sudhir Kulshreshtha, AOR
Mr. Rajesh Singh, AOR Mr. Hitesh Kumar Sharma, Adv. Mr. Amit Kumar Chawla, Adv. Mr. Akhileshwar Jha, Adv. Mr. Mahi Pal Singh, Adv. Mr. Narendra Pal Sharma, Adv. Mr. Sandeep Singh Dingra, Adv. Mr. Varun Varma, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Kumar Solanki, Adv. Mr. Devendra Kumar Mishra, Adv. Ms. Shreya Jha, Adv. Ms. Niharika Dwivedi, Adv. Ms. Swati Vishan, Adv. Ms. Laveena Tak, Adv. Ms. Seema Yadav, Adv. Ms. Charanjeet Sidhu, Adv. Mr. Anupam Kumar, Adv. Mr. Sanjeev Kumar, Adv. Mr. Dinesh Kumar Yadav, Adv. Mr. Raghavendra Pratap Singh, Adv. Ms. Asmita Mishra, Adv. Ms. Shweta Banerjee, Adv. Mr. Shubham Rajhans, Adv. Mr. Ishank Ranjan, Adv. Mr. Dilip Kumar, Adv. Mr. Desh Pal Singh, Adv.
Ms. Sushma Suri, AOR
3 Mr. Sudhir Kumar Gupta, AOR Mr. A. N. Arora, AOR Mr. Irshad Ahmad, AOR Mr. G. Prakash, AOR
Mr. Himanshu Shekhar, AOR Mr. Parth Shekhar, Adv. Mr. Shubham Singh, Adv. Mr. Youkteshwari Prasad, Adv. Ms. Ambali Vedasen, Adv. Mr. Kirtikar Sukul, Adv. Dr. Ashutosh Mishra, Adv. Mr. Manoj Kumar Badisiwal, Adv. Mr. Mahavir Singh, Adv. Mr. Shubham Malik, Adv. Mr. Rajmani Mohanty, Adv. Mr. Rajat Sinha Roy, Adv. Mr. Surajit Basu, Adv. Mr. Nikhil Kumar, Adv. Mr. Rajeev Ghoshal, Adv. Mr. Jaideep Singh Randhawa, Adv. Mr. Vijay Singh, Adv. Mr. Raj Kumar Yadav, Adv. Mr. Rohit Beniwal, Adv. Dr. Itbar Singh, Adv.
Mr. Shiv Vinayak Gupta, Adv. Ms. Anushka Rawal, Adv. Ms. Himani Singh, Adv. Mrs. Bina Gupta, AOR
Mr. P. V. Yogeswaran, AOR Mr. Jitendra Mohan Sharma, AOR Ms. Malini Poduval, AOR Ms. C. K. Sucharita, AOR Mr. E. M. S. Anam, AOR Mr. Shibashish Misra, AOR
Mr. K. L. Janjani, AOR Mr. Pankaj Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. Pawan Kumar Shukla, Adv. Mr. Md. Aman Yousuf, Adv. Ms. Zuna Parween, Adv.
Mr. Naresh K. Sharma, AOR
Ms. A. Sumathi, AOR
Mr. Jai Prakash Pandey, AOR Ms. Binu Tamta, AOR Mr. K. V. Vijayakumar, AOR Mrs. Rani Chhabra, AOR
4 Ms. Divya Roy, AOR Mr. Tarun Johri, AOR Mr. Radha Shyam Jena, AOR Mrs. Anjani Aiyagari, AOR Mr. Ashok Mathur, AOR M/S. Parekh & Co., AOR M/S. K J John And Co, AOR Mr. V. Balachandran, AOR Mr. S. C. Birla, AOR Mr. Ajit Pudussery, AOR Mr. T. Mahipal, AOR Mr. Umesh Bhagwat, AOR Mrs. M. Qamaruddin, AOR Mr. H. S. Parihar, AOR Ms. Baby Krishnan, AOR Mr. P. R. Ramasesh, AOR Mr. Rakesh K. Sharma, AOR Mr. P. N. Gupta, AOR Mr. Sarad Kumar Singhania, AOR Mr. E. C. Agrawala, AOR Mr. Kuldip Singh, AOR Ms. Bina Madhavan, AOR Ms. Pratibha Jain, AOR Mr. Rajat Joseph, AOR Mr. Gopal Prasad, AOR Ms. Jyoti Mendiratta, AOR Mr. S.. Udaya Kumar Sagar, AOR Mr. Ranjan Mukherjee, AOR Ms. Sharmila Upadhyay, AOR
Mr. Tejaswi Kumar Pradhan, AOR Mr. Pranab Samantaray, Adv. Mr. Manoranjan Paikaray, Adv. Mr. Pradeep Kar, Adv.
M/S. Arputham Aruna And Co, AOR Mrs. Nandini Gore, AOR Mr. Raj Kumar Mehta, AOR Ms. Madhu Moolchandani, AOR Mrs. B. Sunita Rao, AOR Mr. Rajeev Singh, AOR Mrs. Kanchan Kaur Dhodi, AOR Mr. Surya Kant, AOR
Mr. Hemant Kumar Sagar, Adv. Mr. Subhash Chandra Sagar, Adv. Mr. E. C. Vidya Sagar, AOR
M/S. M. V. Kini & Associates, AOR Mrs. Manik Karanjawala, AOR Mr. Kamal Mohan Gupta, AOR Mr. Prashant Kumar, AOR
5 Mr. Dharmendra Kumar Sinha, AOR Mr. P. Parmeswaran, AOR Ms. Sujata Kurdukar, AOR Ms. Charu Mathur, AOR
Mr. Bhavanishankar V.gadnis, Adv. Mrs. Santhanalakshmi, Adv. Mr. A. Venayagam Balan, AOR Mr. Vishwanath Gadnis, Adv.
Mr. Sudarsh Menon, AOR Mr. Samarendra Beura, Adv.
Mr. Ramesh Babu M. R., AOR Mr. Vikrant Singh Bais, AOR Mr. Shiva Pujan Singh, AOR
Ms. K. V. Bharathi Upadhyaya, AOR Ms. Pritama, Adv. Dr. Sunita, Adv. Ms. Shaivani Gupta, Adv. Mr. Bipin Vinayak Chandan, Adv. Mr. Sufyan Hasan, Adv. Ms. Hema Malik, Adv.
Mr. Rajiv Mehta, AOR Mr. Ejaz Maqbool, AOR Mr. Rajesh, AOR M/S. Corporate Law Group, AOR Mr. Lakshmi Raman Singh, AOR Mr. B V Deepak, AOR Mr. T. N. Singh, AOR
Mr. Rajendra Sahu, Adv. Mr. Rishabh Sahu, Adv. Ms. Hema Sahu, Adv. Mr. C. L. Sahu, AOR
Ms. Sumita Hazarika, AOR Ms. Kalpana K Tripathy, Adv. Mr. Prakhar Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Abha R. Sharma, AOR Mr. Abhishek Chaudhary, AOR Mrs. Rekha Pandey, AOR Mr. Gopal Singh, AOR Mr. T. V. George, AOR Mr. Krishnanand Pandeya, AOR
Mr. Neeraj Shekhar, AOR Mr. Rajesh Maurya, Adv. Mr. Rajat Singh Chandel, Adv.
6 Ms. Avi Sahai, Adv. Mr. Ritwik Prasad, Adv.
Ms. Asha Gopalan Nair, AOR Mr. M. Yogesh Kanna, AOR
Ms. Sanjana Saddy, AOR Ms. Shailja Singh, Adv.
Mr. S. Hari Haran, Adv. Mr. Vikash Singh, AOR
Mr. Vivek Sharma, AOR Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Shubhranshu Padhi, AOR
Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR Mrs. Anu K Joy, Adv. Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv. Mr. Santhosh K, Adv. Mrs. Devika A.l., Adv.
Mr. Nishit Agrawal, AOR Mr. Krishna Ballabh Thakur, AOR
Ms. Aruna Gupta, AOR Mr. Ramesh Allanki, Adv. Ms. Suryakala Mummana, Adv. Mr. Ramchander Goud Vangala, Adv. Mr. Francis Joseph Clement, Adv. Mr. Aroah Kukala, Adv. Mr. Kadamuri Laxma Reddy, Adv. Ms. Mamatha Ralla, Adv. Ms. Nandita Biswas, Adv. Ms. Syed Ahmad Naqvi, Adv.
Mr. Samir Ali Khan, AOR Mr. Pranjal Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Sachin Jaysing Patil, Adv. Mr. Geo Joseph, Adv. Mr. Risvi Muhammed, Adv. Mr. Sachin Patil, AOR
Mr. Nishant Awana, AOR
Mr. Salvador Santosh Rebello, AOR Mr. Jaskirat Pal Singh, Adv. Mr. Mridul Shukla, Adv. Mr. Ashwary Kathed, Adv.
7 Mr. Sunny Kadiyan, AOR Mrs. Pragya Baghel, AOR
Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR Mr. Satyalipsu Ray, Adv. Ms. Priyal Sheth, Adv.
Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, AOR
Mr. Sravan Kumar Karanam, AOR Mr. Kumar Abhishek, Adv. Mr. P. Venkatraju, Adv. Ms. M. Harshini, Adv. Ms. G. Sushmita, Adv.
Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv. Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv. Ms. Yanmi Phazang,, Adv.
Mr. Shishir Deshpande, AOR Mr. Yusuf, AOR
Mr. Agam Sharma, AOR Ms. Archi Aggarwal, Adv.
Mr. Rajiv Shankar Dvivedi, AOR Mr. Kumar Sameer, Adv. Mr. S.k. Sarkar, Adv. Ms. Arti Dvivedi, Adv. Ms. Sugandha Bhardwaj, Adv. Mr. Bhushan, Adv. Ms. Priya, Adv. Ms. Snigdha Singh, Adv. Ms. Priyanka Parmar, Adv. Ms. Sweta Singh, Adv.
Mr. Gopal Balwant Sathe, AOR
Mr. Sarvam Ritam Khare, AOR Ms. Jayasree Narasimhan, Adv. Mr. Kushagra Sharma, Adv. Mr. Akarsh Khare, Adv. Ms. Seema Dhingra, Adv.
Mr. K.M. Nataraj, ASG Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Adv. Mr. Mukesh K Verma, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR Ms. Sunieta Ojha, AOR
8 Mr. Dinesh Chandra Pandey, AOR Applicant-in-person, AOR Mr. Anant Mann, AOR
Mr. Lakshmeesh S. Kamath, AOR Mrs. Samriti Ahuja, Adv. Ms. Aditi Prakash, Adv. Ms. Eka Kumari Singh, Adv.
Mr. Vikas Kumar, AOR
Mr. Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, AOR Mr. Mustafa Khaddam Hussain, Adv. Mr. Ibad Mushtaq, Adv. Ms. Akanksha Rai, Adv. Ms. Gurneet Kaur, Adv. Ms. Madiha Pagarkar, Adv.
Mr. Kaushik Choudhury, AOR
Mr. Aravindh S., AOR Mr. Bharath.s, Adv.
Mrs. Kirti Renu Mishra, AOR Mr. Atul Sharma, AOR
Mr. Anirudh Sanganeria, AOR Mr. Chinmay Deshpande, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Rajpal, AOR Mr. Himinder Lal, AOR Ms. Shruti Jose, AOR
Mr. Durgesh Ramchandra Gupta, AOR Mr. Anuj Saxena, Adv. Mr. Anuj Ruhela, Adv. Mr. Manan Malik, Adv. Mr. Harsh Saxena, Adv.
Ms. Rangoli Seth, AOR Mr. Manish Raghav , AOR
Mr. Abhishek Atrey, AOR Dr. Abhishek Atrey, Adv. Ms. Ishita Bist, Adv. Ms. Ambika Atrey, Adv. Mr. Navneet Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Mrinal Gopal Elker, AOR Ms. Rashika, Adv.
Mr. Dhaval Mehrotra, AOR
9 Mr. Ravindra Kumar, Sr. Adv. Mr. Binay Kumar Das, AOR Ms. Priyanka Das, Adv. Ms. Neha Das, Adv. Mr. Shivam Saksena, Adv. Mr. Vikas Bharti, Adv.
Ms. Lakshmi N. Kaimal, AOR Mr. Shrey Kapoor , AOR Ms. Anne Mathew, AOR Mr. Yash S. Vijay, AOR
Mr. Sarvan Kumar, Adv. Mr. Adarsh Kumar Tiwari, AOR Ms. Vartika Maurya, Adv. Ms. Akanksha Raj Mishra, Adv. Mr. Satyendra Kumar Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Amritesh Anand, Adv.
M/S. Trust Legal, AOR M/S. Vkc Law Offices, AOR Mr. Naveen Kumar, AOR Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR M/S. D.s.k. Legal, AOR Ms. Shibani Ghosh, AOR Mr. Chandra Bhushan Prasad, AOR
Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G. Mr. Saurabh Rajpal, Adv. Ms. Arushi Rathore, Adv. Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, AOR
Mr. Romy Chacko, Sr. Adv. Mr. Ashwin Romy, Adv. Mr. Akshat Singh, Adv. Mr. Joe Sebastian, Adv. Mr. Sachin Singh Dalal, Adv. Mr Rahul Jain, AOR
Mr. Sabarish Subramanian, AOR M/S. Karanjawala & Co., AOR M/S. Khaitan & Co., AOR
Mr. Ashutosh Dubey, AOR Mrs. Rajshri Dubey, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Amit P Shahi, Adv. Mr. Rahul Bhardwaj, Adv. Mr. Anjan Datta, Adv. Mr. Rahul Sethi, Adv. Mrs. Rekha Chaudhary, Adv. Mr. R Anbhule, Adv.
10 Mrs. Sona Khan, Adv.
M/S. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas Aor, AOR Mr. Vikash Kumar Jha, Adv. Ms. Namrata Sadhnani, Adv. Ms. Ishika Srivastava, Adv.
Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, AOR Mr. Milind Kumar, AOR Mr. Mohit Paul, AOR Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, AOR Ms. Manika Tripathy, AOR Ms. Pallavi Langar, AOR Mr. Rajeev Kumar Dubey, AOR Mr. Rajeev Maheshwaranand Roy, AOR Mr. Vaibhav Niti, AOR Ms. Anisha Upadhyay, AOR Ms. Adarsh Nain, AOR Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR
Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Adv. Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv. Mr. Baijnath Patel, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR Ms. Shivika Mehra, Adv. Ms. Seema Bengani, Adv. Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma-aor, Adv.
Ms. Purnima Krishna, AOR Mr. M.f.philip, Adv. Mr. Togin M. Babichen, Adv. Mr. Karamveer Singh Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR Dr. Surender Singh Hooda, AOR
Mr. Apoorv Kurup, A.A.G. Mr. Gurjas Narula, Adv. Ms. Ankita Sharma, AOR Mr. Arjun D Singh, Adv. Ms. Ishika Neogi, Adv. Mr. Divya Tripathi, Adv.
Mr. Sharanagouda Patil, Adv. Ms. Supreeta Sharanagouda, AOR Mr. Yash S Tiwari, Adv. Mr. Kotresh A M, Adv.
Ms. Ranu Purohit , AOR Ms. Dharitry Phookan, AOR
Mr. Gautam Das, AOR Mr. Abanikanta Sahu, Adv. Mr. Kumar Pal, Adv. Mr. J.d.sharma, Adv. Ms. Khushi Chopra, Adv. Ms. Smita Samantaray, Adv. Mr. R.k.padhi, Adv. Mr. Rohit Oberoi, Adv. Mr. Shivek Rai Kapoor, Adv. Mr. Sanjay Sharma, Adv.
Ms. Seita Vaidyalingam, AOR
Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR
Ms. Anzu. K. Varkey, AOR
Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR Mr. T. R. B. Sivakumar, AOR Mr. Sujit Kumar Mishra , AOR Mr. Sunil Kumar Verma, AOR Mr. Prakash Kumar Singh, AOR Ms. Tanya Srivastava, AOR Mr. Aniteja Sharma, AOR
Ms. Uttara Babbar, Sr. Adv. Mr. Zaman Ali, Adv. Ms. Srishti Agnihotri, AOR Mr. D.p. Singh, Adv. Ms. Tara Elizabeth Kurien, Adv. Ms. Anchal Kanthed, Adv.
Mr. Nishanth Patil, AOR M/S. Venkat Palwai Law Associates, AOR Mr. Ajay Marwah, AOR Mr. Ravindra S. Garia, AOR
Mr. Maninderjit Singh Bedi, Advocate General Mr. Vivek Jain, A.A.G. Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR
Ms. Sugandha Anand , AOR Mr. Aldanish Rein, AOR
Mr. Chanchal Kumar Ganguli, Adv. Mr. Kunal Mimani, AOR Mr. Parag Chaturvedi, Adv. Mr. Debmalya Ganguli, Adv.
Mr. Shantanu Kumar, AOR Mr. Manan Verma, AOR
12 Mr. Nishant Ramakantrao Katneshwarkar, AOR Ms. Vanshaja Shukla, AOR
Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, AOR
Ms. Mayuri Raghuvanshi, AOR Mr. Vivek Jain, AOR
Mr. Abhishek Saket, Adv. Mr. Sudeep Kumar, AOR Ms. Manisha, Adv. Ms. Rupali, Adv.
Ms. Rani Mishra, AOR
Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR
Mr. Deeptakirti Verma, AOR Ms. Usha Nandini V., AOR
Mr. Avneesh Arputham, AOR Mr. Ankit Sharma, Adv. Mr. Nimish Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Sanjana Saddy, AOR Ms. Shailja Singh, Adv.
Mr. Ajay Agarwal, A.A.G. Mr. Kamlendra Mishra, AOR Mr. Rajeev Kumar Dubey, Adv. Mr. Ashiwan Mishra, Adv. Ms. Vaidruti Mishra, Adv. Ms. Aditi Mishra, Adv.
Mr. Somesh Chandra Jha, AOR Ms. Ruchira Goel, AOR
Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mrs. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Adv. Mr. Bharat Bagla, Adv. Mr. Aditya Krishna, Adv.
Mr. Parth Awasthi, Adv. Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR
Mr. Tarun Gupta, AOR Mr. Hirday Virdi, Adv.
Mr. Lenin Singh Hijam, Adv. General, Sr. Adv. Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Karun Shamra, Adv.
13 Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv. Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv.
Mr. Venkata Raghuvamsy D. , AOR Ms. Swathi H. Prasad, AOR
Mr. Adeel Ahmed, AOR Mr. Abul Kibriya, Adv. Mr. Aamir Hussain, Adv. Ms. Shreemoyee Bhattacharjee, Adv. Ms. Taqdees Fatima, Adv. Ms. Farha Naaz, Adv. Mr. Jahngir Iqbal, Adv. Mr. Mohd Ghouse Muddin Khan, Adv.
Mr. Ekansh Mishra, AOR Dr. Nanda Kishore, AOR Mr. P. S. Sudheer, AOR Mr. Sunny Choudhary, AOR Mr. Siddhartha Jha, AOR M/S. V. Maheshwari & Co., AOR Mr. Mayank Aggarwal, AOR Mr. Sanjeev Kumar, AOR
Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR Mr. Krishna Rastogi, Adv. Mr. Aryan Srivastava, Adv.
Ms. Ranjeeta Rohatgi, AOR
Mr. Shubham Upadhyay, AOR Ms. Anukriti Bajpai, Adv. Mr. Vivek Gupta, AOR Dr. Arvind S. Avhad, AOR Mr. Mukesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Naveen Kumar, AOR Mr. P. K. Manohar, AOR Mr. Vinod Sharma, AOR Ms. Surbhi Mehta, AOR Mr. Rajeev Singh, AOR
Ms. Parul Shukla, AOR Ms. Shubhangi Pandey, Adv. Mr. Gladson Rodrigues, Adv. Ms. Keesha Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Shovan Mishra, AOR
Mr. Jatinder Kumar Sethi, D.A.G. Mr. Ashutosh Kumar Sharma, AOR Mr. G P Mahto, Adv.
14 Ms. Suman Kukrety, AOR
Mrs. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Adv. Ms. Suhashini Sen, Adv. Mr. Raghav Sharma, Adv. Mr. Raman Yadav, Adv. Ms. Sunanda Shukla, Adv. Ms. Disha Thakkar, Adv. Mr. Yogesh Vats, Adv. Dr. N. Visakamurthy, AOR
Mrs. Sumita Ray, AOR Ms. Disha Ray, Adv. Mr. Anurag Kumar, Adv. Mr. Piyush Wadhwa, Adv. Ms. Vanshika Singh, Adv. Ms. Vriddhi Bhatt, Adv.
Mr. Ajay Choudhary, AOR Mr. B. K. Pal, AOR Mr. James P. Thomas, AOR Mr. S. Gowthaman, AOR Mr. A. Karthik, AOR Mr. Rajiv Kumar Choudhry , AOR
Mr. Anurag Tandon, AOR Mr. Aastik Dhingra, Adv. Ms. Alisha Luthra, Adv.
Mr. Abhishek Pandey, Adv. Mr. Prashant Kumar Umrao, AOR
Mr. Arun K. Sinha, AOR Ms. Sakshi Kakkar, AOR
Mr. Sanchit Garga, AOR Mr. Kunal Rana, Adv. Mr. Shashwat Jaiswal, Adv. Ms. Diksha Arora, Adv. Mr. Bhanu Pratap Singh, Adv. Ms. Tanu Priya Gupta, AOR Mr. Pradeep Kumar Rai, Sr. Adv. Ms. Farhat Naim, Adv. Ms. Modoyia Kayina, Adv. Mr. Vinay Kumar Rai, Adv. Mrs. Rajshree Rai, Adv. Ms. Samyak Mordia, Adv. M/S R And R Law Associates, AOR
Ms. Shalini Kaul, AOR
15 Mr. Sunil Kumar Sharma, AOR
Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR Ms. Neha Singh, Adv.
Mr. Siddharth Sharma, AOR Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR
Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. A.A.G. Ms. Dr. Monika Gusain, Sr. Adv. Mr. B.k. Satija, A.A.G. Ms. Karishma Malani, A.A.G. Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, AOR Mr. Madhav Sinhal, Adv. Mr. Rahul Khurana, Adv. Mr. Arjun Yaduvanshi, Adv. Mr. Nikunj Gupta, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Mayur Goyal, Adv. Ms. Seema Sindhu, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Arya, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Chand, Adv. Mr. Deepak Vashisht, Adv.
Mr. Omanakuttan K. K., AOR
Mr. Ajit Sharma, AOR
Mr. Avijit Roy, AOR Mr. Pawanshree Agrawal, AOR Mr. Ram Narayan Mohanty, Adv. Mr. Surendra Gautam, Adv. UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R 1. This petition is among the oldest cases pending before this Court. The long history of orders passed in these proceedings reveals that this Writ Petition initially involved limited instances of forest degradation but has now encompassed wideranging administrative and ecological issues. The instant order is being passed to reimagine and streamline the efforts of this Court towards the goals envisaged in this Writ Petition. The aim is to ensure that all stakeholders address modern issues
16 within a contemporary framework, under appropriate judicial supervision. A.
THE EVOLUTION OF THIS WRIT PETITION
2. Shri T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad instituted the instant petition in 1995, originally seeking this Court’s intervention on the rampant depredation of sandalwood trees and other forest resources in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. Though the pleadings were limited to a particular forested region, this Court, in furtherance of its Constitutional obligation, took cognisance of systemic lapses and regulatory failures at the national level, thereby broadening the scope of its efforts in these proceedings. 3. The first major step in this regard to redefine the term ‘Forest’ was taken through an order dated 12.12.1996. Therein, this Court recognised that although regulatory mechanisms had been developed, definitional gaps had rendered them ineffective. That order also signalled a shift in this Court’s jurisprudential approach, relying on the opinions of domain experts rather than bureaucratic views for identifying the characteristics of a particular Forest Area. The 1996 order was only the first of many steps taken by this Court in its endeavour to introduce effective regulatory mechanisms that truly protect the rich environmental and forest wealth bestowed upon India.
17 4. The salient areas in which this Court’s initiative has led to substantial reform include the Protected Areas, namely, the National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves, and Community Reserves, and Tiger Reserves under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and the Morphological Ridge Forest existing across the topology of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Similarly, robust systems have been developed to judicially supervise the grant of permissions for diversion of forest resources, like land and timber, towards essential development works as well as the management of funds deposited for the purposes of compensatory afforestation. 5. Many of these systems envisaged and put in place by this Court have since been legislatively recognised. For instance, the Central Empowered Committee was originally established by this Court’s order dated 09.05.2002 as an Expert Body. However, it has now been formally constituted by the Union of India under Section 3(3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Similarly, this Court had created an ad hoc mechanism to manage funds received for compensatory afforestation, but now the Legislature, having recognised the need for proper management of such funds, has created the National and State-level Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authorities through the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016.
18 6. These efforts have culminated in this Court taking up a wider supervisory role in the protection of forests in India. The expansion in scope has evolved the instant proceedings into a continuing mandamus, leading to the filing of a large number of Interlocutory Applications (IAs) on a wide range of issues. We are informed that over 800 IAs are pending for consideration by this Court. 7. On one hand, such inflation in IAs has prompted this Court to address new and emerging lacunae in the regulatory schemes and ensure that conservation initiatives and sustainable development are taken forward in a balanced and uniform manner. On the other hand, however, this framework, where hundreds of applications arising from different factual circumstances and legal claims are filed in the same proceedings, has made the adjudication of such issues problematic and cumbersome. Centrifuging all forest related issues of local and executory nature before this Court has also impacted quick and seamless access to justice through the decentralised judicial structure of the High Courts and the Specialised Benches of the National Green Tribunal. Moreover, the tenor of the original issues raised in the instant Writ Petition are now at a stark dissonance from the wide-ranging and contemporary actions required from this Court at this stage. 8. We acknowledge that the issues before this Court are as wide in
19 range as the mechanisms for their resolution are varied. It is, thus, imperative that we give this case a renewed shape and direction, which would more clearly reflect the supervisory and directive role played by this Court. 9. To that end, this Court, vide order dated 16.03.2026, had requested the learned Amicus Curiae, Mr. K. Parameshwar, Senior Advocate, to initiate a categorisation exercise in respect of the IAs pending in this Writ Petition. This was done with a view to initiating independent Writ proceedings for the distinct strata of issues pending consideration before us. B.
BRIEF NOTE BY THE AMICI
10. The learned Amicus Curiae has, during the course of hearing, informed us that the process for categorisation of IAs has been substantially completed. That being so, they have also supplied a brief note delineating the background of the petition, the status of some of the issues pending consideration, and the proposed recommendations for how the intention of this Court, recorded in the above-mentioned order, can be crystallised. 11. Before proceeding further, it may be noted that a similar concern had arisen before us in three long-standing petitions filed by Shri M.C. Mehta.1 In those cases, too, a large number of IAs, regarding different issues but filed in a singular Writ 1 Writ Petition (Civil) No. 13381 of 1984, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 4677 of 1985, and Writ Petition (Civil) No. 13029 of 1985.
20 Petition, remained pending for this Court’s consideration. Through judgements dated 11.03.2026 and 12.03.2026, a threejudge bench of this Court, including both of us, has disposed of those Writ Petitions by undertaking a systematic procedure to identify the infructuous applications and creation of contemporary suo moto cases to further hear the issues before this Court. 12. There, approximately 100-450 IAs were pending in each case. The task of identifying the relevant categories was, thus, relatively straightforward. Similarly, it was easier to determine the most expedient manner of adjudication for each category of IAs. As such, the complete action of disposal of the main case and identification, categorisation, and transfer of the IAs could be completed through a single judgement, with appropriate directions to all stakeholders. 13. What emerges from the note submitted by the learned Amicus and the oral submissions made during the course of hearing is that the instant Writ Petition poses a much larger challenge. We say so for three reasons. 14. Firstly, over 800 IAs are pending in the instant Writ Petition, many of them for almost 25 years. This substantially increases
21 the volume of work required to be undertaken to identify and categorise each IA. 15. Secondly, various issues raised in the instant Writ Petition are intricately interlinked. To explicate, some pending IAs seek permission for initiating a proposed Night Safari, sought to be operated in Tiger Reserves/Wildlife Sanctuaries that fall in the Aravalli Region. We may observe that various pending issues would affect the outcome of such an IA, including (i) the definition of and the activities permitted in the Aravalli Region; (ii) the boundary of the Tiger Reserve/Wildlife Sanctuary, its Buffer Zone/Eco-Sensitive Zone, and the activities permitted therein; and (iii) the Expert Body Report on the impact of the specific proposals contained in such IA. Keeping this in mind, it would not be expedient to proceed with the disposal of the instant case without fully understanding the scope of the interconnected issues. 16. Finally, several of the issues raised in these proceedings would concern the subject matters of Suo Moto Writ Petitions that have been recently instituted for a similar objective. The scope of those proceedings would also have to be taken into account while determining the outcome of the instant Writ Petition.
22 17. Keeping this in mind, the learned Amicus has suggested that a preliminary exercise aimed at collecting necessary information be undertaken before giving a formal close to these proceedings. Most importantly, it is recommended that a questionnaire, prepared by the Amicus, be circulated to all Advocates-on-Record (AORs) to obtain such details as may be required to properly delineate the extent of the questions to be decided by us. He has suggested that it is only after the categorisation exercise is completed that this Court should formally dispose of the instant Writ Petition and initiate new Suo Moto Writ Petitions on individual issues. We find merit in this submission of the learned Amicus. 18. Additionally, the learned Amicus has suggested some reforms in the manner of filing fresh IAs in the proposed suo moto cases. We shall consider such proposals at a later stage, after obtaining a holistic view of the expected categorisation of the pending issues. C.
19. In the context of the preceding observations and as a first step towards infusing efficiency the adjudication process for the pending issues, we deem it appropriate to issue the following directions for all the IAs pending in this Writ Petition: (i) The learned Amicus shall prepare an online and accessible questionnaire, seeking details of all IAs pending in the
23 instant Writ Petition; (ii) The questionnaire shall elicit, inter alia, the following details: (a) The details of the applicants; (b) The proposed respondents in the IA; (c) Whether the IA is necessitated by an order of this Court mandating prior leave of this Court; (d) The category(s) within which the IA would fall; (e) Whether the IA has been rendered infructuous due to the previous orders of this Court or due to lapse of time; (f) The reason why the IA cannot be adjudicated by the jurisdictional High Court or the National Green Tribunal; and (g) Any other aspect that the learned Amicus may consider necessary; (iii) The online form must also require that a complete set of the paperbooks of that IA be uploaded along with the response; (iv) The link to the online questionnaire form shall be uploaded by the Registrar (Judicial) on the website of this Court and forwarded for circulation among AORs through
Advocates-on-Record Association. Appropriate steps shall also be taken to ensure that the same is effectively informed to the Parties-in-Person; (v) The concerned AOR or the Party-in-Person, as the case may be, who has filed the IA shall fill the online questionnaire on or before 15.06.2026; and (vi) The learned Amicus shall ensure that all the responses
24 received from the questionnaire form are fully accessible to the Registrar (Judicial) and other appropriate officers in the Registry of this Court for maintenance of records and further use in categorisation. 20. The above-mentioned form shall also permit responses to be filed regarding the petitions and appeals that stand tagged with the instant Writ Petition. These petitions and appeals shall be dealt with in the same manner as IAs filed in this petition. We may clarify that if any of the connected cases are suo moto in nature, the relevant form shall be filled by the learned Amicus. 21. Once the form has been filled in respect of particular IAs (including tagged petitions and appeals), the same shall be listed, after obtaining appropriate directions from the Chief Justice of India on the administrative side, before the Registrar Court. The Registrar Court shall conduct a hearing on each IA for determining whether such IA is infructuous; what category of issues the IA would fall under; and, prima facie, whether the prayer made therein ought to have been made before the High Court or the National Green Tribunal, in light of previous orders of this Court. 22. If the AOR/Party-in-Person does not properly fill such form on or before the said date, it shall be presumed that the
25 respective IA has been rendered infructuous and shall be dismissed as such. 23. The Registry may, meanwhile, permit new Interlocutory Application(s) to be filed in the instant Writ Petition. However, in the interest of expediency, such freshly filed IAs shall not be numbered or taken on record till further directions of this Court. 24. Ordered accordingly. 25. Once this exercise has been completed, the instant Writ Petition shall be listed before a bench of three judges in the week commencing 20.07.2026 for further orders, after obtaining directions from the Chief Justice of India on the administrative side. (JAYANT KUMAR ARORA) (PREETHI DILEEP KUMAR) ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS ASSISTANT REGISTRAR (*) Date in Para 19(v) is changed from 31.05.2026 to 15.06.2026.
26 CORRECTED ITEM NO.51 COURT NO.1 SECTION PIL-W S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s). 202/1995 IN RE : T.N. GODAVARMAN THIRUMULPAD Petitioner(s) VERSUS UNION OF INDIA & ORS. Respondent(s) Date : 13-04-2026 This petition was called on for hearing today. CORAM : HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JOYMALYA BAGCHI For Petitioner(s) :By Courts Motion, AOR Mr. T. Harish Kumar, AOR M/S. Mitter & Mitter Co., AOR M/S. Lawyer S Knit & Co, AOR Mr. Chanchal Kumar Ganguli, AOR M/S. Plr Chambers And Co., AOR Mr. Syed Mehdi Imam, AOR Mr. Pritam Singh, Adv. Mr. Umesh Kumar Shukla, Adv. Mr. Bikash Chandra, Adv. Mr. Kamlesh Kumar Maurya, Adv. Mr. Hemant Kumar Bhargava, Adv. Mr. Ravi Kumar Mehta, Adv. Mr. K.K. Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Ankit B., Adv.
For Respondent(s) :Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv. Ms. Suhashini Sen, Adv. Mr. Raghav Sharma, Adv. Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv. Mr. Baij Nath Patel, Adv. Mr. Rohan Gupta, Adv. Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv. Mr. Raghav Sharma, Adv. Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv. Mr. Baij Nath Patel, Adv. Ms. Suhashini Sen, Adv.
27 Mr. Sudarshan Lamba, AOR
Mr. Raj Kishor Choudhary, AOR Mr. Shakeel Ahmed, Adv. Mr. Vikram Patralekh, Adv. Ms. Shalini Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Himanshu Gupta Is, Adv. Mr. Shivam Yadav, Adv. Mr. Waseem Akhtar Khan, Adv. Mr. Vineet Jindal, Adv. Mr. Ranjan Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv.
Mr. Gaichangpou Gangmei, AOR Ms. Hemantika Wahi, AOR Mr. Mohd. Irshad Hanif, AOR Mr. Punit Dutt Tyagi, AOR Mr. Rathin Das, AOR Mr. Ratan Kumar Choudhuri, AOR Mr. Sudhir Kulshreshtha, AOR
Mr. Rajesh Singh, AOR Mr. Hitesh Kumar Sharma, Adv. Mr. Amit Kumar Chawla, Adv. Mr. Akhileshwar Jha, Adv. Mr. Mahi Pal Singh, Adv. Mr. Narendra Pal Sharma, Adv. Mr. Sandeep Singh Dingra, Adv. Mr. Varun Varma, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Kumar Solanki, Adv. Mr. Devendra Kumar Mishra, Adv. Ms. Shreya Jha, Adv. Ms. Niharika Dwivedi, Adv. Ms. Swati Vishan, Adv. Ms. Laveena Tak, Adv. Ms. Seema Yadav, Adv. Ms. Charanjeet Sidhu, Adv. Mr. Anupam Kumar, Adv. Mr. Sanjeev Kumar, Adv. Mr. Dinesh Kumar Yadav, Adv. Mr. Raghavendra Pratap Singh, Adv. Ms. Asmita Mishra, Adv. Ms. Shweta Banerjee, Adv. Mr. Shubham Rajhans, Adv. Mr. Ishank Ranjan, Adv. Mr. Dilip Kumar, Adv. Mr. Desh Pal Singh, Adv.
Ms. Sushma Suri, AOR
28 Mr. Sudhir Kumar Gupta, AOR Mr. A. N. Arora, AOR Mr. Irshad Ahmad, AOR Mr. G. Prakash, AOR
Mr. Himanshu Shekhar, AOR Mr. Parth Shekhar, Adv. Mr. Shubham Singh, Adv. Mr. Youkteshwari Prasad, Adv. Ms. Ambali Vedasen, Adv. Mr. Kirtikar Sukul, Adv. Dr. Ashutosh Mishra, Adv. Mr. Manoj Kumar Badisiwal, Adv. Mr. Mahavir Singh, Adv. Mr. Shubham Malik, Adv. Mr. Rajmani Mohanty, Adv. Mr. Rajat Sinha Roy, Adv. Mr. Surajit Basu, Adv. Mr. Nikhil Kumar, Adv. Mr. Rajeev Ghoshal, Adv. Mr. Jaideep Singh Randhawa, Adv. Mr. Vijay Singh, Adv. Mr. Raj Kumar Yadav, Adv. Mr. Rohit Beniwal, Adv. Dr. Itbar Singh, Adv.
Mr. Shiv Vinayak Gupta, Adv. Ms. Anushka Rawal, Adv. Ms. Himani Singh, Adv. Mrs. Bina Gupta, AOR
Mr. P. V. Yogeswaran, AOR Mr. Jitendra Mohan Sharma, AOR Ms. Malini Poduval, AOR Ms. C. K. Sucharita, AOR Mr. E. M. S. Anam, AOR Mr. Shibashish Misra, AOR
Mr. K. L. Janjani, AOR Mr. Pankaj Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. Pawan Kumar Shukla, Adv. Mr. Md. Aman Yousuf, Adv. Ms. Zuna Parween, Adv.
Mr. Naresh K. Sharma, AOR
Ms. A. Sumathi, AOR
Mr. Jai Prakash Pandey, AOR Ms. Binu Tamta, AOR Mr. K. V. Vijayakumar, AOR Mrs. Rani Chhabra, AOR
29 Ms. Divya Roy, AOR Mr. Tarun Johri, AOR Mr. Radha Shyam Jena, AOR Mrs. Anjani Aiyagari, AOR Mr. Ashok Mathur, AOR M/S. Parekh & Co., AOR M/S. K J John And Co, AOR Mr. V. Balachandran, AOR Mr. S. C. Birla, AOR Mr. Ajit Pudussery, AOR Mr. T. Mahipal, AOR Mr. Umesh Bhagwat, AOR Mrs. M. Qamaruddin, AOR Mr. H. S. Parihar, AOR Ms. Baby Krishnan, AOR Mr. P. R. Ramasesh, AOR Mr. Rakesh K. Sharma, AOR Mr. P. N. Gupta, AOR Mr. Sarad Kumar Singhania, AOR Mr. E. C. Agrawala, AOR Mr. Kuldip Singh, AOR Ms. Bina Madhavan, AOR Ms. Pratibha Jain, AOR Mr. Rajat Joseph, AOR Mr. Gopal Prasad, AOR Ms. Jyoti Mendiratta, AOR Mr. S.. Udaya Kumar Sagar, AOR Mr. Ranjan Mukherjee, AOR Ms. Sharmila Upadhyay, AOR
Mr. Tejaswi Kumar Pradhan, AOR Mr. Pranab Samantaray, Adv. Mr. Manoranjan Paikaray, Adv. Mr. Pradeep Kar, Adv.
M/S. Arputham Aruna And Co, AOR Mrs. Nandini Gore, AOR Mr. Raj Kumar Mehta, AOR Ms. Madhu Moolchandani, AOR Mrs. B. Sunita Rao, AOR Mr. Rajeev Singh, AOR Mrs. Kanchan Kaur Dhodi, AOR Mr. Surya Kant, AOR
Mr. Hemant Kumar Sagar, Adv. Mr. Subhash Chandra Sagar, Adv. Mr. E. C. Vidya Sagar, AOR
M/S. M. V. Kini & Associates, AOR Mrs. Manik Karanjawala, AOR Mr. Kamal Mohan Gupta, AOR Mr. Prashant Kumar, AOR
30 Mr. Dharmendra Kumar Sinha, AOR Mr. P. Parmeswaran, AOR Ms. Sujata Kurdukar, AOR Ms. Charu Mathur, AOR
Mr. Bhavanishankar V.gadnis, Adv. Mrs. Santhanalakshmi, Adv. Mr. A. Venayagam Balan, AOR Mr. Vishwanath Gadnis, Adv.
Mr. Sudarsh Menon, AOR Mr. Samarendra Beura, Adv.
Mr. Ramesh Babu M. R., AOR Mr. Vikrant Singh Bais, AOR Mr. Shiva Pujan Singh, AOR
Ms. K. V. Bharathi Upadhyaya, AOR Ms. Pritama, Adv. Dr. Sunita, Adv. Ms. Shaivani Gupta, Adv. Mr. Bipin Vinayak Chandan, Adv. Mr. Sufyan Hasan, Adv. Ms. Hema Malik, Adv.
Mr. Rajiv Mehta, AOR Mr. Ejaz Maqbool, AOR Mr. Rajesh, AOR M/S. Corporate Law Group, AOR Mr. Lakshmi Raman Singh, AOR Mr. B V Deepak, AOR Mr. T. N. Singh, AOR
Mr. Rajendra Sahu, Adv. Mr. Rishabh Sahu, Adv. Ms. Hema Sahu, Adv. Mr. C. L. Sahu, AOR
Ms. Sumita Hazarika, AOR Ms. Kalpana K Tripathy, Adv. Mr. Prakhar Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Abha R. Sharma, AOR Mr. Abhishek Chaudhary, AOR Mrs. Rekha Pandey, AOR Mr. Gopal Singh, AOR Mr. T. V. George, AOR Mr. Krishnanand Pandeya, AOR
Mr. Neeraj Shekhar, AOR Mr. Rajesh Maurya, Adv. Mr. Rajat Singh Chandel, Adv.
31 Ms. Avi Sahai, Adv. Mr. Ritwik Prasad, Adv.
Ms. Asha Gopalan Nair, AOR Mr. M. Yogesh Kanna, AOR
Ms. Sanjana Saddy, AOR Ms. Shailja Singh, Adv.
Mr. S. Hari Haran, Adv. Mr. Vikash Singh, AOR
Mr. Vivek Sharma, AOR Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Shubhranshu Padhi, AOR
Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR Mrs. Anu K Joy, Adv. Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv. Mr. Santhosh K, Adv. Mrs. Devika A.l., Adv.
Mr. Nishit Agrawal, AOR Mr. Krishna Ballabh Thakur, AOR
Ms. Aruna Gupta, AOR Mr. Ramesh Allanki, Adv. Ms. Suryakala Mummana, Adv. Mr. Ramchander Goud Vangala, Adv. Mr. Francis Joseph Clement, Adv. Mr. Aroah Kukala, Adv. Mr. Kadamuri Laxma Reddy, Adv. Ms. Mamatha Ralla, Adv. Ms. Nandita Biswas, Adv. Ms. Syed Ahmad Naqvi, Adv.
Mr. Samir Ali Khan, AOR Mr. Pranjal Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Sachin Jaysing Patil, Adv. Mr. Geo Joseph, Adv. Mr. Risvi Muhammed, Adv. Mr. Sachin Patil, AOR
Mr. Nishant Awana, AOR
Mr. Salvador Santosh Rebello, AOR Mr. Jaskirat Pal Singh, Adv. Mr. Mridul Shukla, Adv. Mr. Ashwary Kathed, Adv.
32 Mr. Sunny Kadiyan, AOR Mrs. Pragya Baghel, AOR
Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR Mr. Satyalipsu Ray, Adv. Ms. Priyal Sheth, Adv.
Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, AOR
Mr. Sravan Kumar Karanam, AOR Mr. Kumar Abhishek, Adv. Mr. P. Venkatraju, Adv. Ms. M. Harshini, Adv. Ms. G. Sushmita, Adv.
Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv. Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv. Ms. Yanmi Phazang,, Adv.
Mr. Shishir Deshpande, AOR Mr. Yusuf, AOR
Mr. Agam Sharma, AOR Ms. Archi Aggarwal, Adv.
Mr. Rajiv Shankar Dvivedi, AOR Mr. Kumar Sameer, Adv. Mr. S.k. Sarkar, Adv. Ms. Arti Dvivedi, Adv. Ms. Sugandha Bhardwaj, Adv. Mr. Bhushan, Adv. Ms. Priya, Adv. Ms. Snigdha Singh, Adv. Ms. Priyanka Parmar, Adv. Ms. Sweta Singh, Adv.
Mr. Gopal Balwant Sathe, AOR
Mr. Sarvam Ritam Khare, AOR Ms. Jayasree Narasimhan, Adv. Mr. Kushagra Sharma, Adv. Mr. Akarsh Khare, Adv. Ms. Seema Dhingra, Adv.
Mr. K.M. Nataraj, ASG Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Adv. Mr. Mukesh K Verma, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR Ms. Sunieta Ojha, AOR
33 Mr. Dinesh Chandra Pandey, AOR Applicant-in-person, AOR Mr. Anant Mann, AOR
Mr. Lakshmeesh S. Kamath, AOR Mrs. Samriti Ahuja, Adv. Ms. Aditi Prakash, Adv. Ms. Eka Kumari Singh, Adv.
Mr. Vikas Kumar, AOR
Mr. Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, AOR Mr. Mustafa Khaddam Hussain, Adv. Mr. Ibad Mushtaq, Adv. Ms. Akanksha Rai, Adv. Ms. Gurneet Kaur, Adv. Ms. Madiha Pagarkar, Adv.
Mr. Kaushik Choudhury, AOR
Mr. Aravindh S., AOR Mr. Bharath.s, Adv.
Mrs. Kirti Renu Mishra, AOR Mr. Atul Sharma, AOR
Mr. Anirudh Sanganeria, AOR Mr. Chinmay Deshpande, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Rajpal, AOR Mr. Himinder Lal, AOR Ms. Shruti Jose, AOR
Mr. Durgesh Ramchandra Gupta, AOR Mr. Anuj Saxena, Adv. Mr. Anuj Ruhela, Adv. Mr. Manan Malik, Adv. Mr. Harsh Saxena, Adv.
Ms. Rangoli Seth, AOR Mr. Manish Raghav , AOR
Mr. Abhishek Atrey, AOR Dr. Abhishek Atrey, Adv. Ms. Ishita Bist, Adv. Ms. Ambika Atrey, Adv. Mr. Navneet Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Mrinal Gopal Elker, AOR Ms. Rashika, Adv.
Mr. Dhaval Mehrotra, AOR
34 Mr. Ravindra Kumar, Sr. Adv. Mr. Binay Kumar Das, AOR Ms. Priyanka Das, Adv. Ms. Neha Das, Adv. Mr. Shivam Saksena, Adv. Mr. Vikas Bharti, Adv.
Ms. Lakshmi N. Kaimal, AOR Mr. Shrey Kapoor , AOR Ms. Anne Mathew, AOR Mr. Yash S. Vijay, AOR
Mr. Sarvan Kumar, Adv. Mr. Adarsh Kumar Tiwari, AOR Ms. Vartika Maurya, Adv. Ms. Akanksha Raj Mishra, Adv. Mr. Satyendra Kumar Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Amritesh Anand, Adv.
M/S. Trust Legal, AOR M/S. Vkc Law Offices, AOR Mr. Naveen Kumar, AOR Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR M/S. D.s.k. Legal, AOR Ms. Shibani Ghosh, AOR Mr. Chandra Bhushan Prasad, AOR
Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G. Mr. Saurabh Rajpal, Adv. Ms. Arushi Rathore, Adv. Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, AOR
Mr. Romy Chacko, Sr. Adv. Mr. Ashwin Romy, Adv. Mr. Akshat Singh, Adv. Mr. Joe Sebastian, Adv. Mr. Sachin Singh Dalal, Adv. Mr Rahul Jain, AOR
Mr. Sabarish Subramanian, AOR M/S. Karanjawala & Co., AOR M/S. Khaitan & Co., AOR
Mr. Ashutosh Dubey, AOR Mrs. Rajshri Dubey, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Amit P Shahi, Adv. Mr. Rahul Bhardwaj, Adv. Mr. Anjan Datta, Adv. Mr. Rahul Sethi, Adv. Mrs. Rekha Chaudhary, Adv. Mr. R Anbhule, Adv.
35 Mrs. Sona Khan, Adv.
M/S. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas Aor, AOR Mr. Vikash Kumar Jha, Adv. Ms. Namrata Sadhnani, Adv. Ms. Ishika Srivastava, Adv.
Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, AOR Mr. Milind Kumar, AOR Mr. Mohit Paul, AOR Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, AOR Ms. Manika Tripathy, AOR Ms. Pallavi Langar, AOR Mr. Rajeev Kumar Dubey, AOR Mr. Rajeev Maheshwaranand Roy, AOR Mr. Vaibhav Niti, AOR Ms. Anisha Upadhyay, AOR Ms. Adarsh Nain, AOR Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR
Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Adv. Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv. Mr. Baijnath Patel, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR Ms. Shivika Mehra, Adv. Ms. Seema Bengani, Adv. Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma-aor, Adv.
Ms. Purnima Krishna, AOR Mr. M.f.philip, Adv. Mr. Togin M. Babichen, Adv. Mr. Karamveer Singh Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR Dr. Surender Singh Hooda, AOR
Mr. Apoorv Kurup, A.A.G. Mr. Gurjas Narula, Adv. Ms. Ankita Sharma, AOR Mr. Arjun D Singh, Adv. Ms. Ishika Neogi, Adv. Mr. Divya Tripathi, Adv.
Mr. Sharanagouda Patil, Adv. Ms. Supreeta Sharanagouda, AOR Mr. Yash S Tiwari, Adv. Mr. Kotresh A M, Adv.
Ms. Ranu Purohit , AOR Ms. Dharitry Phookan, AOR
Mr. Gautam Das, AOR Mr. Abanikanta Sahu, Adv. Mr. Kumar Pal, Adv. Mr. J.d.sharma, Adv. Ms. Khushi Chopra, Adv. Ms. Smita Samantaray, Adv. Mr. R.k.padhi, Adv. Mr. Rohit Oberoi, Adv. Mr. Shivek Rai Kapoor, Adv. Mr. Sanjay Sharma, Adv.
Ms. Seita Vaidyalingam, AOR
Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR
Ms. Anzu. K. Varkey, AOR
Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR Mr. T. R. B. Sivakumar, AOR Mr. Sujit Kumar Mishra , AOR Mr. Sunil Kumar Verma, AOR Mr. Prakash Kumar Singh, AOR Ms. Tanya Srivastava, AOR Mr. Aniteja Sharma, AOR
Ms. Uttara Babbar, Sr. Adv. Mr. Zaman Ali, Adv. Ms. Srishti Agnihotri, AOR Mr. D.p. Singh, Adv. Ms. Tara Elizabeth Kurien, Adv. Ms. Anchal Kanthed, Adv.
Mr. Nishanth Patil, AOR M/S. Venkat Palwai Law Associates, AOR Mr. Ajay Marwah, AOR Mr. Ravindra S. Garia, AOR
Mr. Maninderjit Singh Bedi, Advocate General Mr. Vivek Jain, A.A.G. Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR
Ms. Sugandha Anand , AOR Mr. Aldanish Rein, AOR
Mr. Chanchal Kumar Ganguli, Adv. Mr. Kunal Mimani, AOR Mr. Parag Chaturvedi, Adv. Mr. Debmalya Ganguli, Adv.
Mr. Shantanu Kumar, AOR Mr. Manan Verma, AOR
37 Mr. Nishant Ramakantrao Katneshwarkar, AOR Ms. Vanshaja Shukla, AOR
Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, AOR
Ms. Mayuri Raghuvanshi, AOR Mr. Vivek Jain, AOR
Mr. Abhishek Saket, Adv. Mr. Sudeep Kumar, AOR Ms. Manisha, Adv. Ms. Rupali, Adv.
Ms. Rani Mishra, AOR
Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR
Mr. Deeptakirti Verma, AOR Ms. Usha Nandini V., AOR
Mr. Avneesh Arputham, AOR Mr. Ankit Sharma, Adv. Mr. Nimish Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Sanjana Saddy, AOR Ms. Shailja Singh, Adv.
Mr. Ajay Agarwal, A.A.G. Mr. Kamlendra Mishra, AOR Mr. Rajeev Kumar Dubey, Adv. Mr. Ashiwan Mishra, Adv. Ms. Vaidruti Mishra, Adv. Ms. Aditi Mishra, Adv.
Mr. Somesh Chandra Jha, AOR Ms. Ruchira Goel, AOR
Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mrs. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Adv. Mr. Bharat Bagla, Adv. Mr. Aditya Krishna, Adv.
Mr. Parth Awasthi, Adv. Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR
Mr. Tarun Gupta, AOR Mr. Hirday Virdi, Adv.
Mr. Lenin Singh Hijam, Adv. General, Sr. Adv. Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Karun Shamra, Adv.
38 Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv. Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv.
Mr. Venkata Raghuvamsy D. , AOR Ms. Swathi H. Prasad, AOR
Mr. Adeel Ahmed, AOR Mr. Abul Kibriya, Adv. Mr. Aamir Hussain, Adv. Ms. Shreemoyee Bhattacharjee, Adv. Ms. Taqdees Fatima, Adv. Ms. Farha Naaz, Adv. Mr. Jahngir Iqbal, Adv. Mr. Mohd Ghouse Muddin Khan, Adv.
Mr. Ekansh Mishra, AOR Dr. Nanda Kishore, AOR Mr. P. S. Sudheer, AOR Mr. Sunny Choudhary, AOR Mr. Siddhartha Jha, AOR M/S. V. Maheshwari & Co., AOR Mr. Mayank Aggarwal, AOR Mr. Sanjeev Kumar, AOR
Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR Mr. Krishna Rastogi, Adv. Mr. Aryan Srivastava, Adv.
Ms. Ranjeeta Rohatgi, AOR
Mr. Shubham Upadhyay, AOR Ms. Anukriti Bajpai, Adv. Mr. Vivek Gupta, AOR Dr. Arvind S. Avhad, AOR Mr. Mukesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Naveen Kumar, AOR Mr. P. K. Manohar, AOR Mr. Vinod Sharma, AOR Ms. Surbhi Mehta, AOR Mr. Rajeev Singh, AOR
Ms. Parul Shukla, AOR Ms. Shubhangi Pandey, Adv. Mr. Gladson Rodrigues, Adv. Ms. Keesha Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Shovan Mishra, AOR
Mr. Jatinder Kumar Sethi, D.A.G. Mr. Ashutosh Kumar Sharma, AOR Mr. G P Mahto, Adv.
39 Ms. Suman Kukrety, AOR
Mrs. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Adv. Ms. Suhashini Sen, Adv. Mr. Raghav Sharma, Adv. Mr. Raman Yadav, Adv. Ms. Sunanda Shukla, Adv. Ms. Disha Thakkar, Adv. Mr. Yogesh Vats, Adv. Dr. N. Visakamurthy, AOR
Mrs. Sumita Ray, AOR Ms. Disha Ray, Adv. Mr. Anurag Kumar, Adv. Mr. Piyush Wadhwa, Adv. Ms. Vanshika Singh, Adv. Ms. Vriddhi Bhatt, Adv.
Mr. Ajay Choudhary, AOR Mr. B. K. Pal, AOR Mr. James P. Thomas, AOR Mr. S. Gowthaman, AOR Mr. A. Karthik, AOR Mr. Rajiv Kumar Choudhry , AOR
Mr. Anurag Tandon, AOR Mr. Aastik Dhingra, Adv. Ms. Alisha Luthra, Adv.
Mr. Abhishek Pandey, Adv. Mr. Prashant Kumar Umrao, AOR
Mr. Arun K. Sinha, AOR Ms. Sakshi Kakkar, AOR
Mr. Sanchit Garga, AOR Mr. Kunal Rana, Adv. Mr. Shashwat Jaiswal, Adv. Ms. Diksha Arora, Adv. Mr. Bhanu Pratap Singh, Adv. Ms. Tanu Priya Gupta, AOR Mr. Pradeep Kumar Rai, Sr. Adv. Ms. Farhat Naim, Adv. Ms. Modoyia Kayina, Adv. Mr. Vinay Kumar Rai, Adv. Mrs. Rajshree Rai, Adv. Ms. Samyak Mordia, Adv. M/S R And R Law Associates, AOR
Ms. Shalini Kaul, AOR
40 Mr. Sunil Kumar Sharma, AOR
Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR Ms. Neha Singh, Adv.
Mr. Siddharth Sharma, AOR Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR
Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. A.A.G. Ms. Dr. Monika Gusain, Sr. Adv. Mr. B.k. Satija, A.A.G. Ms. Karishma Malani, A.A.G. Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, AOR Mr. Madhav Sinhal, Adv. Mr. Rahul Khurana, Adv. Mr. Arjun Yaduvanshi, Adv. Mr. Nikunj Gupta, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Mayur Goyal, Adv. Ms. Seema Sindhu, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Arya, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Chand, Adv. Mr. Deepak Vashisht, Adv.
Mr. Omanakuttan K. K., AOR
Mr. Ajit Sharma, AOR
Mr. Avijit Roy, AOR Mr. Pawanshree Agrawal, AOR Mr. Ram Narayan Mohanty, Adv. Mr. Surendra Gautam, Adv. UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R 26. This petition is among the oldest cases pending before this Court. The long history of orders passed in these proceedings reveals that this Writ Petition initially involved limited instances of forest degradation but has now encompassed wideranging administrative and ecological issues. The instant order is being passed to reimagine and streamline the efforts of this Court towards the goals envisaged in this Writ Petition. The aim is to ensure that all stakeholders address modern issues
41 within a contemporary framework, under appropriate judicial supervision. A.
THE EVOLUTION OF THIS WRIT PETITION
27. Shri T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad instituted the instant petition in 1995, originally seeking this Court’s intervention on the rampant depredation of sandalwood trees and other forest resources in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. Though the pleadings were limited to a particular forested region, this Court, in furtherance of its Constitutional obligation, took cognisance of systemic lapses and regulatory failures at the national level, thereby broadening the scope of its efforts in these proceedings. 28. The first major step in this regard to redefine the term ‘Forest’ was taken through an order dated 12.12.1996. Therein, this Court recognised that although regulatory mechanisms had been developed, definitional gaps had rendered them ineffective. That order also signalled a shift in this Court’s jurisprudential approach, relying on the opinions of domain experts rather than bureaucratic views for identifying the characteristics of a particular Forest Area. The 1996 order was only the first of many steps taken by this Court in its endeavour to introduce effective regulatory mechanisms that truly protect the rich environmental and forest wealth bestowed upon India.
42 29. The salient areas in which this Court’s initiative has led to substantial reform include the Protected Areas, namely, the National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves, and Community Reserves, and Tiger Reserves under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and the Morphological Ridge Forest existing across the topology of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Similarly, robust systems have been developed to judicially supervise the grant of permissions for diversion of forest resources, like land and timber, towards essential development works as well as the management of funds deposited for the purposes of compensatory afforestation. 30. Many of these systems envisaged and put in place by this Court have since been legislatively recognised. For instance, the Central Empowered Committee was originally established by this Court’s order dated 09.05.2002 as an Expert Body. However, it has now been formally constituted by the Union of India under Section 3(3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Similarly, this Court had created an ad hoc mechanism to manage funds received for compensatory afforestation, but now the Legislature, having recognised the need for proper management of such funds, has created the National and State-level Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authorities through the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016.
43 31. These efforts have culminated in this Court taking up a wider supervisory role in the protection of forests in India. The expansion in scope has evolved the instant proceedings into a continuing mandamus, leading to the filing of a large number of Interlocutory Applications (IAs) on a wide range of issues. We are informed that over 800 IAs are pending for consideration by this Court. 32. On one hand, such inflation in IAs has prompted this Court to address new and emerging lacunae in the regulatory schemes and ensure that conservation initiatives and sustainable development are taken forward in a balanced and uniform manner. On the other hand, however, this framework, where hundreds of applications arising from different factual circumstances and legal claims are filed in the same proceedings, has made the adjudication of such issues problematic and cumbersome. Centrifuging all forest related issues of local and executory nature before this Court has also impacted quick and seamless access to justice through the decentralised judicial structure of the High Courts and the Specialised Benches of the National Green Tribunal. Moreover, the tenor of the original issues raised in the instant Writ Petition are now at a stark dissonance from the wide-ranging and contemporary actions required from this Court at this stage. 33. We acknowledge that the issues before this Court are as wide in
44 range as the mechanisms for their resolution are varied. It is, thus, imperative that we give this case a renewed shape and direction, which would more clearly reflect the supervisory and directive role played by this Court. 34. To that end, this Court, vide order dated 16.03.2026, had requested the learned Amicus Curiae, Mr. K. Parameshwar, Senior Advocate, to initiate a categorisation exercise in respect of the IAs pending in this Writ Petition. This was done with a view to initiating independent Writ proceedings for the distinct strata of issues pending consideration before us. B.
BRIEF NOTE BY THE AMICI
35. The learned Amicus Curiae has, during the course of hearing, informed us that the process for categorisation of IAs has been substantially completed. That being so, they have also supplied a brief note delineating the background of the petition, the status of some of the issues pending consideration, and the proposed recommendations for how the intention of this Court, recorded in the above-mentioned order, can be crystallised. 36. Before proceeding further, it may be noted that a similar concern had arisen before us in three long-standing petitions filed by Shri M.C. Mehta.2 In those cases, too, a large number of IAs, regarding different issues but filed in a singular Writ 2 Writ Petition (Civil) No. 13381 of 1984, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 4677 of 1985, and Writ Petition (Civil) No. 13029 of 1985.
45 Petition, remained pending for this Court’s consideration. Through judgements dated 11.03.2026 and 12.03.2026, a threejudge bench of this Court, including both of us, has disposed of those Writ Petitions by undertaking a systematic procedure to identify the infructuous applications and creation of contemporary suo moto cases to further hear the issues before this Court. 37. There, approximately 100-450 IAs were pending in each case. The task of identifying the relevant categories was, thus, relatively straightforward. Similarly, it was easier to determine the most expedient manner of adjudication for each category of IAs. As such, the complete action of disposal of the main case and identification, categorisation, and transfer of the IAs could be completed through a single judgement, with appropriate directions to all stakeholders. 38. What emerges from the note submitted by the learned Amicus and the oral submissions made during the course of hearing is that the instant Writ Petition poses a much larger challenge. We say so for three reasons. 39. Firstly, over 800 IAs are pending in the instant Writ Petition, many of them for almost 25 years. This substantially increases
46 the volume of work required to be undertaken to identify and categorise each IA. 40. Secondly, various issues raised in the instant Writ Petition are intricately interlinked. To explicate, some pending IAs seek permission for initiating a proposed Night Safari, sought to be operated in Tiger Reserves/Wildlife Sanctuaries that fall in the Aravalli Region. We may observe that various pending issues would affect the outcome of such an IA, including (i) the definition of and the activities permitted in the Aravalli Region; (ii) the boundary of the Tiger Reserve/Wildlife Sanctuary, its Buffer Zone/Eco-Sensitive Zone, and the activities permitted therein; and (iii) the Expert Body Report on the impact of the specific proposals contained in such IA. Keeping this in mind, it would not be expedient to proceed with the disposal of the instant case without fully understanding the scope of the interconnected issues. 41. Finally, several of the issues raised in these proceedings would concern the subject matters of Suo Moto Writ Petitions that have been recently instituted for a similar objective. The scope of those proceedings would also have to be taken into account while determining the outcome of the instant Writ Petition.
47 42. Keeping this in mind, the learned Amicus has suggested that a preliminary exercise aimed at collecting necessary information be undertaken before giving a formal close to these proceedings. Most importantly, it is recommended that a questionnaire, prepared by the Amicus, be circulated to all Advocates-on-Record (AORs) to obtain such details as may be required to properly delineate the extent of the questions to be decided by us. He has suggested that it is only after the categorisation exercise is completed that this Court should formally dispose of the instant Writ Petition and initiate new Suo Moto Writ Petitions on individual issues. We find merit in this submission of the learned Amicus. 43. Additionally, the learned Amicus has suggested some reforms in the manner of filing fresh IAs in the proposed suo moto cases. We shall consider such proposals at a later stage, after obtaining a holistic view of the expected categorisation of the pending issues. C.
44. In the context of the preceding observations and as a first step towards infusing efficiency the adjudication process for the pending issues, we deem it appropriate to issue the following directions for all the IAs pending in this Writ Petition: (i) The learned Amicus shall prepare an online and accessible
48 questionnaire, seeking details of all IAs pending in the instant Writ Petition; (ii) The questionnaire shall elicit, inter alia, the following details: (a) The details of the applicants; (b) The proposed respondents in the IA; (c) Whether the IA is necessitated by an order of this Court mandating prior leave of this Court; (d) The category(s) within which the IA would fall; (e) Whether the IA has been rendered infructuous due to the previous orders of this Court or due to lapse of time; (f) The reason why the IA cannot be adjudicated by the jurisdictional High Court or the National Green Tribunal; and (g) Any other aspect that the learned Amicus may consider necessary; (iii) The online form must also require that a complete set of the paperbooks of that IA be uploaded along with the response; (iv) The link to the online questionnaire form shall be uploaded by the Registrar (Judicial) on the website of this Court and forwarded for circulation among AORs through
Advocates-on-Record Association. Appropriate steps shall also be taken to ensure that the same is effectively informed to the Parties-in-Person;
49 (v) The concerned AOR or the Party-in-Person, as the case may be, who has filed the IA shall fill the online questionnaire on or before 31.05.2026; and (vi) The learned Amicus shall ensure that all the responses received from the questionnaire form are fully accessible to the Registrar (Judicial) and other appropriate officers in the Registry of this Court for maintenance of records and further use in categorisation. 45. The above-mentioned form shall also permit responses to be filed regarding the petitions and appeals that stand tagged with the instant Writ Petition. These petitions and appeals shall be dealt with in the same manner as IAs filed in this petition. We may clarify that if any of the connected cases are suo moto in nature, the relevant form shall be filled by the learned Amicus. 46. Once the form has been filled in respect of particular IAs (including tagged petitions and appeals), the same shall be listed, after obtaining appropriate directions from the Chief Justice of India on the administrative side, before the Registrar Court. The Registrar Court shall conduct a hearing on each IA for determining whether such IA is infructuous; what category of issues the IA would fall under; and, prima facie,
50 whether the prayer made therein ought to have been made before the High Court or the National Green Tribunal, in light of previous orders of this Court. 47. If the AOR/Party-in-Person does not properly fill such form on or before the said date, it shall be presumed that the respective IA has been rendered infructuous and shall be dismissed as such. 48. The Registry may, meanwhile, permit new Interlocutory Application(s) to be filed in the instant Writ Petition. However, in the interest of expediency, such freshly filed IAs shall not be numbered or taken on record till further directions of this Court. 49. Ordered accordingly. 50. Once this exercise has been completed, the instant Writ Petition shall be listed before a bench of three judges in the week commencing 20.07.2026 for further orders, after obtaining directions from the Chief Justice of India on the administrative side. (JAYANT KUMAR ARORA) (PREETHI DILEEP KUMAR) ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS ASSISTANT REGISTRAR