Erdermann Property Limited v Safaricom Staff Pension Scheme Registered Trustees & 3 others

The approving bodies are specialized authorities with technical expertise; no prescribed period existed for studying designs, so the speed of approval did not undermine validity. Further, the 1st respondent's own affidavits showed the complaint was about restricted access and aesthetics, not complete blockage, and the appellant's design proposed U-turns and alternative access. The trial court's finding of constitutional infringement was therefore blown out of proportion and erroneous.

Article 10 entrenches public participation as a national value binding on all state organs and persons discharging public duties, and Section 3(5) of EMCA places a duty on NEMA to ensure sufficient and credible participation before licensing. For a project of this magnitude, the bare minimum required by the Supreme Court's guidelines in British American Tobacco was advertisement in the dailies and public education. What occurred was a cosmetic public relations exercise, invalidating the approvals to the extent they depended on it.

The Supreme Court in Jasbir Singh Rai held that courts should identify good reasons for departing from the general rule and that public interest litigation matters tend to be exempted from costs awards. The trial court condemned the appellant to costs despite itself noting the petition was brought in the public interest. That holding binds this Court, so the costs order is varied so that each party bears its own costs both here and below.