New Delhi, : The Supreme Court today warned builders that they could not construct huge real estate projects by violating environmental laws and “seducing” gullible people to buy such apartments.

A three-judge bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur, A.K. Sikri and R. Banumathi said it may henceforth insist on prior eco-clearance for all such projects instead of post-facto clearances, as is the case now.

“You cannot merrily construct without getting the clearances. Any stay will only perpetuate this illegality. At the threshold, this is a double-edged weapon. You are misleading people, seducing them to buy such flats on the one hand and on the other, destroying the environment,” Justice Thakur observed.

The bench then indicated that it may restore an earlier National Green Tribunal (NGT) order that barred post-facto approvals for real-estate projects.

The NGT had done so in July last year by striking down an environment ministry circular paving way for post-facto clearances. The tribunal – an apex court bench that exclusively hears environment-related cases – had held that the circular could not overrule an earlier notification that had made green clearances mandatory before construction.

However, the NGT order was subsequently stayed by another bench, headed by then Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu, later last year.

When the matter came up for hearing today, the court said it would review the stay and posted the matter for further hearing to January 22.

“You people (builders) are constructing huge projects without any clearances and then selling it to people who later crowd around the court demanding they be given possession. You must have some respect for the law,” Justice Thakur, heading the bench, told senior counsel Rajiv Datta and counsel Shravan Kumar, appearing for some of the builders.

The NGT had earlier quashed “office memos (circulars)” of December 12, 2012, and June 27, 2013, permitting post-facto approvals for construction projects. It had held that the memos were a violation of a 2006 notification under which such clearances had to be taken before, not after, construction.