115-PIL-61-2026.odt 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY, NAGPUR BENCH : NAGPUR. PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION NO. 61 OF 2026 Sagar Kantilal Devre vs. Union of India, through Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forst and Climate Change, New Delhi and others. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Office Notes, Office Memoranda of Court's or Judge's Order Coram, appearances, Court's Orders or directions and Registrar's order ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Petitioner in person with Mr. s.P.Mokadam, Advocate for petitioner. Mr. Kartik Shukul, DSGI, with Mr. S.S.Bisht, Advocate for respondent nos. 1 and 6. Mr. D.V.Chauhan, Sr.Advocate/Goveernment Pleader, i/b Mr. N.S.Rao, AGP for respondent nos. 2 to 5 and 8. Mr. Sunil Manohar, Senior Advocate i/b Mr. Atharv Manohar, Advocate for respondent no.7. CORAM :- ANIL S. KILOR and RAJNISH R. VYAS, JJ. DATE :- 19th AUGUST, 2026. Heard the learned counsel appearing for the parties. 2. The following are the prayers made in this Public Interest Litigation (PIL): A. Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction, including a Writ of Certiorari, quashing and setting aside: i. the Wildlife Clearance Exemption/Clarification dated 13.05.2026; ii. the Environmental Clearance dated 20.09.2025 read with the Corrigendum dated 10.05.2026; and iii. the Stage-II Forest Clearance dated 15.04.2026, granted in favour of Respondent No.7 in respect of diversion of 937.077 hectares of forest land situated at villages Hedri, Bande, Parsalgondi and Round-Parsalgondi, Taluka Etapalli, District Gadchiroli, Maharashtra. B. Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction, including a Writ of Mandamus, directing the Respondents to undertake a fresh appraisal and decision in respect of the said project strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, the applicable Tiger Conservation Plan, the statutory functions of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, and all other applicable 2026:BHC-NAG:10766-DB 115-PIL-61-2026.odt 2 environmental laws, after considering all relevant statutory, scientific and technical material, including: i. the NTCA Clarification dated 20.08.2025; ii. the relevant Tiger Conservation Plan; iii. the Wildlife Institute of India reports; iv. the Eastern Vidarbha Landscape studies; v. the Project Proponent's DGPS Maps, KML files, Topographical Maps, Sanctuary Reference Maps and Wildlife Management Plan; and vi. any other relevant material relating to habitat connectivity, dispersal areas and wildlife corridors. C. Pending the hearing and final disposal of the present Petition, stay the operation, implementation and effect of the impugned Wildlife Clearance Exemption dated 13.05.2026, Environmental Clearance dated 20.09.2025 read with Corrigendum dated 10.05.2026, and Stage-II Forest Clearance dated 15.04.2026. D. Pending the hearing and final disposal of the present Petition, restrain Respondent No.7, its officers, servants, agents, contractors or any person claiming through or under it from carrying out any irreversible activity, including diversion of forest land, tree felling, excavation, blasting, mining operations or construction pursuant to the impugned approvals. E. Direct Respondent Nos. 1 to 8 to produce before this Hon'ble Court the complete original records relating to the grant of the impugned approvals, including file notings, appraisal reports, inspection reports, GIS data, DGPS records, KML files, Wildlife Management Plan, Topographical Maps, Sanctuary Reference Maps, correspondence and all other records considered while granting the impugned approvals. F. Direct Respondent Nos.1 to 6 to place before this Hon'ble Court the complete decision-making process, including the file notings, scientific studies, GIS analysis, maps, reports and reasons relied upon while concluding that the project did not require Wildlife Clearance under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. G. Pending the hearing and final disposal of the present Petition, grant ad-interim relief in terms of prayer clause (C) and (D). H. Grant ad-interim relief in terms of prayer clause (C). I. Award costs of the present Petition. 115-PIL-61-2026.odt 3 J. Pass such further and other orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the present case”. 3. Para 10 of the PIL says that the petitioner before filing this PIL has not made any representation to any of the authorities. Further it is evident that before filing this PIL, the petitioner has invoked the jurisdiction of the National Green Tribunal by filing appropriate proceeding. However, the said proceeding was withdrawn and the present PIl came to be filed. 4. In the backdrop of the above referred prayers and the facts of this case, we are of the opinion that the course adopted by this Court in Public Interest Litigation No. 46 of 2025 i.e. to approach the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), considering the important role of the NTCA in conservation of tigers, the same course should be adopted in the present case also. 5. The petitioner, who is appearing in person, now requests for withdrawal of the present PIL so as to approach the NTCA by raising the grievances as raised in the present PIL. 6. Permission is granted. 7. Accordingly, the Public Interest Litigation is disposed of as withdrawn with liberty to the petitioner to approach the NTCA by filing a representation. 8. The NTCA shall consider the representation, if filed, and records its finding on each issues raised in such representation. The NTCA shall decide the representation expeditiously. ( RAJNISH R. VYAS, J.) (ANIL S. KILOR, J.) Andurkar. Signed by: Jayant S. Andurkar Designation: PA To Honourable Judge Date: 19/08/2026 19:28:34