The first proposition emerging from Vanashakti is unequivocal: prior EC remains a mandatory requirement under the 2006 Notification. The Court held that the four-stage appraisal process, i.e. screening, scoping, public consultation and appraisal, is meaningful only if it precedes commencement of project activity; once construction has progressed or operations have begun, public participation and expert appraisal are reduced to a formality.
On this basis, the Court held unambiguously that prior EC is a mandatory, non-derogable requirement, and that the substitution of criminal prosecution with civil penalty by the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 reflects only a change in the severity of sanction, not any dilution of the underlying obligation. Decriminalisation, the Court holds, is not deregulation.