THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a major setback for the non-SEZ part of Taurus Downtown Trivandrum project at Technopark Phase-III, the high court (HC) on Tuesday quashed the writ petition filed by Dragonstone Realty Pvt Ltd. The court stated it could not intervene in the case where National Green Tribunal (NGT) is the appellate authority. Dragonstone Realty is the special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed to develop the non-SEZ part of the Taurus Downtown Trivandrum project.
With HC’s observation, the previous NGT order to cancel the environmental clearance issued for the expansion of the mixed-use project at Technopark Phase-III campus has come into force again. However, Dragonstone Realty decided to seek legal opinion to challenge the HC judgment either in HC or in the Supreme Court.
“We will seek legal opinion soon to challenge the judgment. However, it will delay this component of the project,” said R Anil Kumar, chief operating officer of Dragonstone and the petitioner.
As per the HC judgment, the NGT, composed of both judicial and environmental experts, is well-equipped to handle complex environmental cases, balancing legal and technical considerations. It cannot be a proper exercise of jurisdiction to permit the petitioner to bypass the statutory appeal and entertain a writ petition in the exercise of its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the judgment noted.
Besides cancelling the environmental clearance to the project, NGT also imposed a penalty of Rs 15 crore on the project proponent. NGT’s order was based on an appeal filed by environment activist Thomas Lawrence against the environmental clearance for the project expansion.
The non-SEZ part proposes a mall, hotel, apartment blocksand an IT office building project. In Aug 2023, Dragonstone Realty secured an interim stay order from the high court on the NGT order for a month. Later, the petitioner sought an extension of the stay order period, and it was granted.
Earlier, NGT set aside the clearance by Union ministry of environment, forestry, and climate change for the main component of the project and the clearance from the state impact assessment authority for further expansion of the project.
