19-WP-4444-2026.doc IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIRCUIT BENCH AT KOLHAPUR CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO. 4444 OF 2026 Sociedade De Fomento Industrial Private Limited ...Petitioner Versus The State Of Maharashtra And Ors. ...Respondents —————— Mr. Parag Rao (through VC) a/w Ms. Vrushali Maindad, Ms. Seema Shirodkar, Ms. Gayatri Kulkarni, for the Petitioner. Mr. S.B.Kalel, AGP for the Respondent-State. Mr. Vijay Killedar a/w Mr. Shivraj Jagadale, for the Respondent No. 2. Mr. Jitendra Jagtap a/w Mr. Akshay Patil (through VC), Mr. Chirag Sancheti, Dr. Rohidas Matkar, for the Respondent No. 3-MPCB. —————— CORAM : SHARMILA U. DESHMUKH & NEERAJ P. DHOTE, JJ. DATE : OCTOBER 08, 2026. P. C. : 1. The Petition was filed and moved urgently in view of the cancellation of the public hearing scheduled on 7th September, 2026 with the consequence that the validity of Terms Of Reference (“TOR”) expired on 11th September, 2026. By order dated 8th September, 2026, this Court had expressed the strong disapproval at the action taken by the Sub-Divisional Officer and the Collector, which was contrary to the Environment Impact Assessment “(EIA”) notification of 2006. 2. Considering that the validity of TOR has since now expired, the Arya Chavan 1 of 2 2026:BHC-KOL:9800-DB 19-WP-4444-2026.doc Petitioner will be required to file afresh for the TOR. The authorities to bear in mind that the arbitrary manner in which the authorities have acted have resulted in serious consequences, not only to the Petitioner but also to the efforts taken in finalizing the TOR, which exercise will have to be conducted once again, and it cannot be disputed that considerable time and efforts will now be expended in finalizing the TOR. 3. It is expected that as statutory authorities, there would be compliance with the statutory provisions. Be that as it may. As the Petitioner will now apply afresh for fresh TOR, the Union of India is requested to consider the same as expeditiously as possible. It is expected that the state authorities will take appropriate note of the observations made by this Court in the order dated 8th September, 2026 and will ensure full co-operation in carrying out their duties under the EIA notification. 4. The Petition is disposed of in the above terms. [NEERAJ P. DHOTE, J.] [SHARMILA U. DESHMUKH, J.] Arya Chavan 2 of 2