Decision of Apex Court On Ecology & Air Pollution

The Supreme Court of India has made immense contribution to environmental jurisprudence of our country. It has entertained quite a lot of genuine public interest litigation (PIL) cases or class-action cases under Art. 32 of the Constitution. So have the High Courts under Art. 226 of the Constitution. These Courts have issued various directions on a number of issues concerning environment as part of their overall writ jurisdiction and in that context they have developed a vast environmental jurisprudence. They have used Art. 21 of the Constitution of India and expanded the meaning of the word life in that Article as including a right to a healthy environment

The Supreme Court of India is considered, in recent years, as the most important dispenser of environmental justice. By delivering landmark judgments that have, indeed, altered the common people's perception of the court of law as just a forum for dispute resolution and nothing else; the Supreme Court has carved out a niche for itself. It holds a unique position and has been projected as a ' Green Court' in contributing to the evolution of environmental jurisprudence in India. An attempt has been made in this article to analyze how some of the judgment have contributed to the enrichment of environmental jurisprudence. This section analyses the contribution of Judges to the jurisprudence of Environmental Law and to the development of international environmental law. The analysis seeks not only to deal with the specific content of some judgment but also to draw a broader picture of views of the Judges towards protection and development of environment and related laws.

Judicial Approach In Environment Related CasesIf one examines the judicial approach in cases involving environment-related objections against the construction of infrastructural projects, there have of course been different approaches taken by different courts in the past. One can broadly conceptualise these judicial approaches under three categories. The first of these can be described as a pro-project approach wherein judges tend to emphasize the potential benefits of a particular project or commercial activity. The second approach can be described as that of judicial restraint wherein judges defer to the determinations made by executive agencies and experts with regard to the environmental feasibility of a project. The third approach is that of rigorous judicial review wherein judges tend to scrutinize the environmental impact of particular activities.

Role Of JudiciaryThe judiciary, to fulfill its constitutional obligations was and is always prepared to issue appropriate orders, directions and writs against those persons who cause environmental pollution and ecological imbalance. This is evident from a plethora of cases decided by starting from the Ratlam Municipality Case. This case provoked the consciousness of the judiciary to a problem which had not attracted much attention earlier. The Supreme