Environmental Standards and the Right to Life in India: Regulatory Frameworks and Judicial Enterprise
Year: 2019
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: introduction India, a nation of 1.34 billion people, 1 has a range of laws and enforcement agencies that respond to a market-driven, developing country.There is a strong environmental policy, legislative framework and well-established institutions at both national and state levels.However, India's increasing prosperity has resulted in growing public awareness and a consequential demand for improved environmental quality.Environmental laws and associated standards aim to ensure the maintenance of environmental quality parameters and maintain the ecological balance.The state has also enjoyed the benefits of the transplantation of environmental standards from developed nations and international institutions thereby promoting domestic standards.Powerful ministries, notably the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, claim to operate under the aegis of sustainable development.However, the regulatory instruments and normative standards, often piecemeal and sectoral, have failed to encompass the holistic nature of the environment and human well-being.There exists a gap between increasing public demand for environmental protection and the enforcement failure to implement relevant legislation and related rules.It resulted in the establishment of green tribunals that promote environmental governance.Consequently, judicial intervention to protect the environment and ecology assumes enhanced importance.Fortunately, India benefits because of its proactive, imaginative judiciary, particularly concerning environmental protection and through the expansive interpretation of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. 2 Any threat to the environment or ecology can lead to the violation of the right to life under Article 21, which attracts judicial intervention.Judicial initiatives focus on conservation, including 1 United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs 'World Population Prospects' (2017) <www.un.org/development/desa/publications/world-population-prospects-the-2017-revision.html>accessed 31 May 2018. 2 Constitution of India (1950) art 21: 'No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except in accordance with the procedure established by law.
Author: Gitanjali N. Gill
Language: English
Topic: Environmental law and policy
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2927472367