New Delhi

A group of 72 lawyers, law students, researchers and activists trained in law has written an open letter to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant seeking retraction of what they termed “unfair observations” by the Supreme Court against environmental activists.

The letter follows remarks made by a bench headed by the CJI on May 11 during a hearing related to developmental projects, where the court had said: “Show us even a single project in this country where these alleged environmental activists have said that we welcome this project.”

Released on Tuesday, the letter said the observations cast “unjust aspersions” on citizens, communities and collectives working to protect ecology through lawful means and within the constitutional framework.

The signatories are associated with the National Alliance for Justice, Accountability and Rights (NAJAR), a platform of legal professionals.

According to the letter, the court’s remarks indicate a broader “jurisprudential shift” — from treating environmental litigation as part of constitutional governance to viewing it as an obstruction to development.

“It relates to a broader jurisprudential shift: from viewing environmental litigation as an integral part of constitutional governance towards treating it as a suspect form of obstruction,” the letter stated.

The signatories argued that the comments risk undermining the role of citizens as enforcers of environmental laws and statutory duties. They also expressed concern over what they described as increasing judicial deference to project clearances and administrative expertise despite “inconsistencies, omissions and unresolved public concerns” in some cases.

The letter urged the CJI to reaffirm constitutional principles underpinning environmental jurisprudence, including recognition of environmental public interest litigations and appeals before the National Green Tribunal as legitimate constitutional and statutory enforcement mechanisms.

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It also sought reaffirmation that decisions of the NGT should receive appropriate weight while remaining subject to appellate review under the provisions of the NGT Act.