Supreme Court Settles a Recurring Environmental-Law Dispute: Land Allotment Is Not a Pre-Condition for Seeking Environmental Clearance In a significant ruling delivered on 07.09.2026, the Supreme Court of India (J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, JJ.) in M/s Punahchakran Pvt. Ltd. v. Indotech Waste Solution & Ors. , 2026 INSC 956, Civil Appeal No. 7367 of 2024, clarified several questions that regularly trouble project proponents, pollution control boards, and environmental litigators alike particularly in cases concerning Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facilities (CBWTFs). Key takeaways: 🔹 CPCB's Revised Guidelines, 2016 are mandatory non-publication in the Official Gazette does not dilute their binding force where publication on the CPCB's official website is otherwise reasonable and the parent statute/rules prescribe no fixed mode. 🔹 Land allotment ≠ pre-condition for Form 1 under Clause 6 of the EIA Notification, 2006, mere identification of a prospectiv...