A critical view on the impact of constitution of India as internal regulatory mechanism for environmental issues and policies

Abstract

The judiciary has viewed the human rights on one hand and the environmental protection on the other hand as the two faces of the same coin. In modern India, environmental Jurisprudence has gone a long way in acquiring a very seminal importance leaving behind the engraved British Juristic notions as out dated and insufficient. The damage caused to environment by poisonous gases and emissions, industrial effluents, plastic waste, exploitation of natural resources like soil, forests, water supplemented by other equally important factors like poverty, growing population, health hazards, degeneration in quality of life have acquired alarming proportions which cry for a new environmental ethic order and justice in Indian society. Regrettably in India, the initial phase of judicial response to the problems of environment has been of insensitivity and apathy towards environmental issues and problems. The judiciary as a guardian of fundamental right has protected the right of each individual in relation to environment under Art.21 of the Constitution of India. A constitution is a set of laws that a set of people have made and agreed upon for government [1]. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is. The term Constitution can be applied to any overall system of law that defines the functioning of a government, including the development of modern codified environment law. An attempt has been made to analyze how some of the Articles in Constitution of India and the relative judgments have contributed to the enrichment of environmental jurisprudence and to the development of environmental Policies. The analysis seeks the specific content of each judgment and draws a broader picture from part third of the Constitution of India for the protection and development of environment Policies.