India's Supreme Court order on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is criticized for weakening pre-project appraisal. While nominally reaffirming appraisal before construction, the ruling allows the Centre to legalize post-facto violations, effectively hollowing out environmental norms. The author contends that violations are routinely discovered after projects are built, making retrospective clearance the de facto norm. The judgment's transactional logic, treating environmental harm as a debt settled by fines, reduces compliance to a "cost of doing business." This approach erodes the precautionary principle. The Centre should repair the clearance apparatus, not multiply amnesty schemes.