New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday (October 5) refused to entertain the Union government’s challenge to a former bureaucrat’s Public Interest Litigation (PIL) related to the Great Nicobar Island Project, in which several members of a tribal group have also sought to implead themselves. The PIL has been admitted by the Calcutta high court and is scheduled for hearings on November 25 and 26.A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana told Attorney General of India R. Venkataramani that the PIL had already been admitted, with Justice Bagchi noting that it raised crucial aspects related to the Nicobar Island, including the status, future and rights of its tribal residents and the enviornmental concerns related to the Great Nicobar project.The former bureaucrat behind the PIL is Meena Gupta, who has held top positions in the Union ministry of environment and forests as well as the tribal affairs ministry.As per Venkataramani, the PIL ought not to be admitted or heard because Gupta is a resident of Hyderabad, and not directly related to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and also because multiple fora are hearing pleas related to the Great Nicobar project. He cited the project cost, saying it is estimated at over Rs 72,000 and said it was a project of national importance.PILs can be filed by citizens on behalf of any group of citizens or any issue of public importance and while filing them applicants must declare that they have no vested interest in the issue raised in their petition.Also read: Union Govt Approaches SC to Stay Hearings On Petitions Regarding Great Nicobar Projects: Report“Somebody comes and files a petition years later, and then three different petitions try to challenge it in three different ways. Then they say the tribals are affected and they are not before the court. Now they have got impleaded,” the Attorney General told the top court, Live Law reports, apparently opposing the impleadment of tribal residents of the Great Nicobar Islands in the PIL.The CJI said that the Supreme Court would request the Chief Justice of the Calcutta high court to take up the matter at the dates set for the matter. The Supreme Court recorded that both sides had assured the court of their full cooperation in the proceedings, Live Law reports.Today’s Supreme Court decision was welcomed by former Union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh, who said it meant the “flame of hope” for ecological wisdom still flickered.The Supreme Court has just rejected the Modi Govt’s ploy and plea. This is to be welcomed. Now the matter will be taken up as originally scheduled in the Calcutta High Court on Nov 25-26. The flame of hope for ecological wisdom still flickers.— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) October 5, 2026Gupta’s PIL is based on alleged violations of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, and reduction of eco-sensitive buffer zones around national parks, the publication said.“Rule 56 in clear terms provides that if a person or class of persons by reason of poverty, helplessness or disability or socially or economically disadvantageous positions, is unable to approach to court for relief, for redressal of their grievance, any member of the public can approach the court,” the high court said in May during arguments on Gupta’s plea, which the Union government had been contesting in the Calcutta high court as well.The high court, like the Supreme Court on October 5, had noted the particular vulnerability of the tribal residents of Nicobar impacted by the government’s upcoming project.As The Wire previously reported, as much as 130 square kilometres of rainforest – which also include areas used by the indigenous Shompen and Nicobarese communities – will be lost to these projects. Locals have also raised concerns about island authorities not taking into account their concerns regarding the projects.“The tribal population in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a very vulnerable tribal groups and they are ordinarily not accessible to common men,” the Calcutta bench comprising Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen observed on May 8 while hearing the plea, which the Additional Solicitor General had opposed in person.Both courts have noted that Gupta served as secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, participated in finalisation of the Forest Rights Bill before it became law and spent her childhood living in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.