How Judicial Interpretations is helping towards sustainable development in India ?

The judiciary has contributed to environmental protection in India in two ways. It has introduced procedural innovations to provide much wider access to justice.

A major initiative towards environmental protection and sustainable development in India has originated from the Indian judiciary. The commitment of the judiciary towards social good in general and environmental protection in particular, led to the emergence of the innovative use of ‘public interest litigation’ (PIL) as a tool for social and environmental justice.

The judiciary has contributed to environmental protection in India in two ways. It has introduced procedural innovations to provide much wider access to justice. And it has, by a positive and expansive interpretation of the ‘right to life’ enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution, included within its ambit a ‘right to a healthy environment’. As pointed out above, the Indian constitution does not provide a distinct fundamental ‘right to environment’. Environment finds mention only in the Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties.

However, the Indian judiciary, starting from the 1980s, has adopted an increasingly environment-friendly stance and has imparted an interpretative linkage between a clean environment and the ‘right to life’. The judiciary, in various cases has held that the basic requirement of a decent quality of life is to live in a healthy environment. The right to environment was given judicial recognition in the Dehradun Lime Quarries Case (Rural Litigation and Entitlements Kendra v. State of Uttar Pradesh, 1987) and reaffirmed in the Sriram Gas Leak Case (MC Mehta v. Union of India, 1987).

The judiciary has also dealt increasingly with cases involving a reconciling of environmental goals and development imperatives. In most such cases, the Indian courts have held that while the significance of development imperatives cannot be denied, environmental protection is a larger good that is worthy of pursuit, even at the cost of short-term losses such as loss of jobs or revenue.