The National Green Tribunal has delivered a significant ruling regarding the controversial Great Nicobar Island development project, deciding that only those portions of a high-powered committee report that have been formally submitted on record can be considered in ongoing legal proceedings.
NGT's Landmark Decision on Committee Report
In a crucial development, a six-member NGT bench led by Chairperson Prakash Shrivastava has partially allowed applications filed by environmental activist Ashish Kothari. The tribunal has ruled that it will not consider the entire report of the Centre's High-Powered Committee (HPC) that revisited environmental clearances for the massive Great Nicobar project.
The NGT explicitly stated in its order dated November 27, 2025 that it does not intend to rely upon any part of the HPC report that is not formally on record. This decision comes after the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) submitted the complete report in a sealed cover but did not provide a copy to the petitioner, citing national security concerns.
Centre's Opposition and Security Concerns
The Centre had strongly opposed the applications, describing them as "highly belated" in its submissions. However, government counsel also indicated they had no objection if the ongoing petitions were decided based solely on existing pleadings without considering the confidential HPC report.
The NGT order revealed that the complete HPC report was never properly placed on record and was immediately returned to the MoEF&CC counsel after a brief examination by the tribunal. The bench noted that neither was the report supplied to the applicant due to national security claims, nor was it formally made part of the court records.
Meanwhile, the tribunal rejected two other applications that sought to have the key report shared with all parties, maintaining the confidentiality of the document that contains what the government describes as "strategic and privileged information."
Background of the Great Nicobar Project Controversy
The legal battle centers around the massive Rs 81,000 crore infrastructure project planned for the ecologically sensitive Great Nicobar Islands. The development, spread across 166 square kilometers, involves diversion of 130 square kilometers of forest land for multiple components including:
- A major transshipment port
- An integrated township
- A dual-use civil and military airport
- A 450 MVA power plant utilizing gas and solar energy
The HPC was established in April 2023 following NGT directives to address what the tribunal described as "unanswered deficiencies" regarding the project's environmental impact on the biodiverse islands.
Kothari had filed interlocutory applications concerning the HPC report as part of ongoing petitions alleging violations of the Island Coastal Regulation Zone (ICRZ) notification of 2019. The petitions challenge the siting of the project in a no-development zone and question the contents of the HPC report.
In a counter affidavit submitted last year, the Centre had only placed selective conclusions from the HPC report on record. These included assurances that no part of the transshipment port falls within prohibited coastal zones and that corals would be translocated to mitigate environmental damage.
The NGT's latest ruling represents a balancing act between environmental transparency and national security concerns, setting important precedents for how confidential government reports can be treated in environmental litigation while ensuring procedural fairness for all parties involved.
