The Hindu Editorial Analysis : 31st July 2026

The Hindu Editorial Analysis

We understand the significance of reading The Hindu newspaper for enhancing reading skills, improving comprehension of passages, staying informed about current events, enhancing essay writing, and more, especially for banking aspirants who need to focus on editorials for vocabulary building. This article will explore today’s editorial points, along with practice questions and key vocabulary.

SC Restricts Retrospective Green Clearances

• The Supreme Court on Wednesday cancelled the 2021 Office Memorandum (OM), which had allowed projects to get environmental clearance even after work had already started without permission. However, the decision will apply only from now onwards (prospectively), which means the clearances already given under this OM will not automatically become invalid.
• The court said the 2021 OM was only an administrative order, but it created a permanent system that allowed projects started without prior environmental clearance (EC) to later get approval.
• The court said this OM changed the entire process and standards for giving environmental clearance, which were originally laid down in the 2006 Environment Ministry notification.
• The judges said the government cannot change an important environmental law through a simple administrative order. Since the 2006 notification is a delegated law, it can only be changed by issuing another proper legal notification, not through an Office Memorandum.
• The court made it clear that an amnesty scheme cannot become a permanent shortcut to avoid taking environmental clearance before starting a project.
• The court said a valid amnesty scheme should:
  • Be used only in rare situations.
  • Be limited for a fixed period.
  • Apply only to a specific category of deserving projects, and not to every project.
• A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said that taking prior environmental clearance under the 2006 notification is compulsory.

• Highways.
• Airports.
• Real estate projects.
• Township developments.
• Mining.
• Resource extraction projects.

• The court noted that the 2006 notification applies to many important sectors, including:
• Justice Joymalya Bagchi, who wrote the 80-page judgment, said the 2006 notification could be changed only through another proper amnesty notification. Such a notification should be meant only for selected deserving projects whose continuation is necessary because of an overriding public interest.
• The Supreme Court also stopped the Central government from issuing administrative orders in future to give retrospective environmental clearances.
• However, the court clarified that this judgment does not stop the Supreme Court itself from granting retrospective environmental clearances under its special powers given by Article 142 of the Constitution.
• The court said the 2021 OM had become a permanent amnesty scheme that covered all permissible projects.
• It found that the OM did not clearly explain why some projects should get retrospective environmental clearance and on what reasonable basis they were being selected.
• The judges also said the scheme had no proper connection with the larger public interest that could justify such retrospective clearances.
• Because of this, the court held that the 2021 OM went against the objectives of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, whose main aim is to protect the environment by following:
  • A balanced approach.
  • The precautionary principle.
  • Sustainable development.
• Justice Bagchi said the 2021 OM failed the tests of reasonableness and proportionality and therefore violated Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
• The court also made it clear that getting the benefit of an amnesty or regularisation scheme is not anyone’s legal right.
• It said a person or company that starts a project without the required environmental clearance cannot later claim that it has a right to get the project regularised.
• According to the judgment, the 2021 OM allowed almost every permissible industry to get regularised by paying only a very small amount as environmental compensation.
• The court criticised this approach and said it encouraged a “pollute first and then pay later” system instead of promoting sustainable development.
• The court also looked at the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, which removed the criminal punishment for violating the rule of taking prior environmental clearance.
• The judges said this change did not improve the situation.
• Before the 2023 amendment, anyone violating the rule could face:
  • Up to five years’ imprisonment.
  • A fine of up to ₹1 lakh.
  • Or both imprisonment and fine.
• Justice Bagchi said weak enforcement of environmental rules, along with an unlimited regularisation scheme and a very low environmental compensation, made the system of prior environmental clearance almost meaningless in both law and practice.
• The court also pointed out that in some cases even the government, which is responsible for enforcing the law, had itself violated the rule of obtaining prior environmental clearance.
• The Bench directed that if any amnesty scheme is introduced in future, it must include strong punishment for individual government officials who violate the law.
• Such measures should include:
  • Disciplinary action against the officials concerned.
  • Making them personally responsible for environmental damage, wherever the State or its agencies violate the rule of obtaining prior environmental clearance while acting as project proponents.
• Although the court struck down the 2021 OM, it decided that the judgment would apply only in the future so that important ongoing public projects are not affected.
• These ongoing projects include:
  • AIIMS Medical College and Hospital building in Odisha.
  • Centre of Excellence for Cancer Diseases in Tamil Nadu.
  • Vijayapura Airport in Karnataka.
  • Medical colleges.
  • Slum rehabilitation projects.
  • Irrigation projects in drought-prone areas.
• The court also said that retrospective environmental clearances granted under the 2017 notification, which had provided a one-time amnesty for projects started without prior clearance, will continue to remain valid unless someone challenges them separately in court.
• Similarly, environmental clearances granted under the 2021 OM will also remain valid unless they are individually challenged according to law.
• The judgment noted that the 2021 OM was based on the 2017 notification and had turned the system of giving retrospective environmental clearances into a regular practice.
• The case went through several major changes before reaching this final decision.
• In May 2025, a Division Bench of the Supreme Court had called retrospective environmental clearances a serious illegality and something completely against environmental protection.
• However, in November 2025, a larger Bench softened that decision.
• The larger Bench said that completely ending the system of retrospective environmental clearances would seriously affect ongoing public projects worth thousands of crores of rupees.

U.S. fast-tracks Bill to impose up to 100% tariffs on nations importing Russian crude oil

• The U.S. Senate has voted to speed up the passing of a Bill that could impose a tariff of up to 100% on countries like India for buying Russian oil.
• On Tuesday, the Senate showed rare support from both political parties by passing a cloture motion with an 86-12 vote, moving the ‘Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026’ closer to becoming law.
• The first version of this Bill, introduced in 2025, had proposed a 500% tariff on all countries importing Russian oil. However, earlier this month, this proposal was changed and the tariff was reduced to up to 100%.
• According to U.S. Senate documents, the main aim of this Bill is to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin from getting the money that helps Russia continue its war against Ukraine.
• For this purpose, the Bill plans to target Russia’s political leaders, financial institutions, energy sector, and the networks helping Russia avoid existing sanctions.
• The Bill will use targeted tariffs to put pressure on the world’s biggest buyers of Russian energy so that they reduce their dependence on Russia.
• A cloture is a procedure in the U.S. Senate that fixes a time limit for debate and other related discussions before a matter is put to a final vote. In simple words, it is used to speed up the voting process.
• Under the latest version of the Bill, a tariff of up to 100% can be imposed on the top five countries buying Russian crude oil and natural gas.
• At present, China buys about 47%-50% of Russia’s crude oil exports, while India buys around 36%-38%.
• According to the latest data released by the Indian government, Russian oil made up a little over 40% of India’s total oil imports in May 2026.
• The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas told The Hindu that the share of Russian oil in India’s imports increased to more than half in June 2026.
• Ajay Srivastava, founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), said that this proposed U.S. Bill could have major consequences for India.
• He said that buying discounted Russian crude has greatly reduced India’s import bill, improved the country’s energy security, and helped keep inflation under control.
• He also said that the U.S. is increasingly using trade and economic measures to achieve its strategic and foreign policy goals.
• According to him, reciprocal tariffs, Section 301 investigations, forced-labour measures, sector-specific duties, and now Russia-related sanctions show that the U.S. is using a wider range of economic tools to put pressure on other countries.
• The revised Bill also includes a special exemption (carve-out) for countries that import less than 15% of Russia’s natural gas exports and are making serious efforts to reduce those imports even further.
• This exemption will benefit several European countries that still import Russian natural gas through pipelines or in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
• Meanwhile, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday that the first part of the India-U.S. bilateral trade agreement will come into effect as soon as the U.S. ensures that India gets a better competitive advantage than its rival countries.

Govt says BS-III vehicles may need modifications to use E20 fuel

• Some rubber parts and gaskets in BS-III vehicles may need to be changed when using E20 fuel (20% ethanol + 80% petrol), the Central government told Parliament on Tuesday.
• Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said that, according to a study, BS-III vehicles introduced from 1 April 2005 and manufactured before 2016 may need some rubber parts and gaskets to be replaced while using E20 fuel.
• He said these parts can be replaced easily during the vehicle’s regular servicing, so there is no major problem.
• Gadkari gave this reply in the Rajya Sabha while answering a question asked by CPI MP A.A. Rahim.
• The question was about how E20 fuel affects vehicle performance, fuel efficiency, engine life, and maintenance cost.
• The Central government had ordered this study, but it has not been released to the public yet.
• The study was carried out by the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Indian Institute of Petroleum (Dehradun), Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), and Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI).
• The study found that, except for BS-III vehicles, cars and two-wheelers do not need any engine changes to run on E20 fuel.
• There have been complaints that some vehicles misfire or stop working, and some people have blamed E20 fuel or contaminated E20 fuel for these problems.
• Gadkari said fuel efficiency does not depend only on the type of fuel. It is also affected by many other factors, such as driving habits, vehicle maintenance, and the use of the air conditioner (AC).

Important Questions

1. Why did the Supreme Court cancel the 2021 Office Memorandum (OM) that allowed projects to get retrospective environmental clearance after starting work without prior permission?
2. Why did the Supreme Court decide that the judgment would apply only prospectively and not affect environmental clearances already granted under the 2021 Office Memorandum (OM)?
3. Why did the U.S. Senate speed up the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 through the cloture process?
4. How could the proposed tariff of up to 100% on countries importing Russian crude oil affect India’s energy security, oil imports, and economy?
5. Why may BS-III vehicles manufactured before 2016 need modifications to use E20 fuel?
6. According to the Central government, what factors other than the type of fuel affect the fuel efficiency of vehicles using E20 fuel?

Important Vocabulary

1. Retrospective – Applying to something that happened in the past.
2. Delegated – Given legal authority by a higher authority.
3. Proportionality – The principle that an action must be appropriate and balanced.
4. Regularisation – The process of making something officially legal or valid.
5. Cloture – A procedure to limit debate before a final vote.
6. Tariff – A tax imposed on imported goods.
7. Reciprocal – Given or done in return.
8. Exemption – Freedom from a rule or requirement.
9. Gaskets – Seals used to prevent leakage between joined parts.
10. Misfire – Failure of an engine cylinder to ignite properly.
11. Contaminated – Made impure by unwanted substances.
12. Servicing – Routine maintenance of a vehicle

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