SHRI SHIVAJI EDUCATION SOCIETY’S

DR PANJABRAO DESHMUKH COLLEGE OF LAW, AMRAVATI

Affiliated To

SANT GADGEBABA AMRAVATI UNIVERSITY, AMRAVATI

SYNOPSIS

Socio legal research topic:

Corporate Environmental Responsibility To Abstain From Damaging Natural Environment

And Its Avoidance Causing The Violation Of Rights Of Public in Amravati City

Submitted To:

SANT GADGE BABA AMRAVATI UNIVERSITY, AMRAVATI.

Through Post Graduate Teaching Department of Law,

Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh College of Law, Amravati.

In partial fulfillment of the examination of Master in Law

In academic session 2021-22.

Submitted By:

Naina Rajendra Parihar

Researcher

Student –LLM Semester IIIrd

Corporate Law

Dr. P. Y. Dabhade Dr.Varsha Deshmukh

H.O.D Officiating Principal

Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh

College of Law, Amravati. College of Law, Amravati.

 RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that Ms. Naina Rajendra Parihar has selected the topic “Corporate
Environmental Responsibility to Abstain from Damaging Natural Environment and Its
Avoidance Causing the Violation of Rights of Public in Amravati City’’ is related to Non-
doctrinal research and fit for its investigation and approved by University .

Dr. P.R.Malviya Dr. P.Y.Dabhade Dr. Varsha Deshmukh

Research H.O.D Officiating Principal

Guide (LL.M Department) .

Dr. Pannjabrao Deshmukh Dr. Pannjabrao Deshmukh Dr. Pannjabrao Deshmukh

College of Law, Amravati. College of Law, Amravati. College of Law, Amravati.

 DECLARATION

I, Naina Rajendra Parihar hereby declare that I am regular student of LL.M IIIrd semester of Dr.
Panjabrao Deshmukh College of Law, Amravati for session 2021-22 and the project work entitled,
“Corporate Environmental Responsibility to Abstain from Damaging Natural Environment and
Its Avoidance Causing the Violation of Rights of Public in Amravati City’’ is record of original
work done by me under the guidance of Dr. Pranay Malviya Sir .Hence this declaration.

Signature of Researcher /Student

(LL.M IIIrd Semester)

(Corporate Law)
 INDEX

Sr. No. Particulars Page No.

1 Introduction 5-6
2 Chapter –I 7-8
Theoretical Background
3 Chapter – II 9-13
Research Methodology
4 Chapter –III 14
Interpretation and Analysis of Data
5 Chapter – IV 15
 Major Findings
 Conclusion
 Suggestions and recommendations

6 Bibliography and Webliography 16

 RESEARCH TOPIC
“Corporate Environmental Responsibility to Abstain from Damaging Natural Environment and
Its Avoidance Causing the Violation of Rights of Public in Amravati City’’

INTRODUCTION
There are two sides to every coin. So are the pros and cons of the industrial revolution. On one hand,
the Industrial Revolution has improved the lives of people in many ways in the 21st century. On the
other hand, unfortunately, the industrial revolution has caused industrial pollution. Technology has
developed drastically and manufactured products have replaced the archaic products. The by-products
are the inevitable part of the manufacturing process. Hence, principles such as ‘precautionary
principle’ and ‘polluter pays principle’ are constitutional mandates to curb the degradation of the
environment. Therefore, it’s a no brainer for a citizen to be aware of the principles of environmental
law. In certain cases, the impacts of the industrial disaster are said to be experienced till date.

Take for instance the incident of the Bhopal Gas leak, the pollutants which seeped into the
groundwater years ago still forms the reason for cancer, growth retardation and dizziness. Let alone
the immediate impact of the leakage. The deadly methyl isocyanate which drifted into the sleeping
city caused the death of thousands of inhabitants within a few days. Such incidents in the past further
necessitate mandating principles for combatting the effects of pollution. High amounts of pollutants
emitted by the vehicle put forth the question of whether the owner or the manufacturer will be liable
for the pollutants emitted. The scope and extent of the ‘polluter pays’ principle is explained as below:

The ‘polluter pay’ principle essentially holds the polluter liable for the pollution caused to the
environment. The polluter is liable for every damage caused to the environment. So according to the
‘polluter pay principle’, the polluter has to not only compensate the victims of pollution but also
compensate for the restoration of environmental degradation caused Under 1972 and 1974 OECD
Recommendation (1)(2), the measures to be taken by the polluter for controlling the pollution is
decided by public authorities so that the environment is inacceptable state post the industry operation.
Therefore, the polluter bears the cost of health hazard caused to the public as well as the cost of
restoration of the environment. In other words, the costs of the measures should reflect on the cost of
the goods and services, the production and/or consumption of which led to pollution. The cost of the
measures should not be accompanied by the subsidies as it would lead to distortion in international
trade and investment.
The polluter pays principle is part of a set of broader principles to guide sustainable development
worldwide The ‘polluter pay’ principle forms a part of the environmental law of India.

Of the different resource providers to business, natural resources are considered the most important of
all. However, corporations misuse the natural environment for their selfish purposes. The sustainable
development goals mandated by the UN tries to take into account the 3Ps – Profit, Planet and People,
all together in a balanced manner. Governments through their policies, regulators through
monitoring, corporations through innovation, and customers through modified lifestyles have
been endeavoring to meet these goals and work for a better future. Corporate environmental
responsibility (CER) has become an important aspect of a company’s overall responsibility in today’s
context.

To protect the environment and promote CER, several regulations have been strengthened by the
Indian government. One major policy decision the Indian Government took up was the mandatory
spending of 2% of profits in CSR activities as stated in the Companies Act, 2013. Schedule VII of
Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 prescribes the following activities as part of CSR spending:

• Eradicating extreme hunger and poverty

• Promoting education

• Promoting gender equality and empowering women

• Reducing child mortality and improving maternal health

• Combating human immune deficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, malaria and
other diseases

• Ensuring environmental sustainability

• Providing employment enhancing vocational skills

• Promoting social business projects

• Contributing to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund or any other fund set up by the Central
Government or the State Governments.

Due to this directive, there has been an upward movement in CSR spending in India to the extent of
47% in 2017. This paper attempts to analyses the CSR spending on environment sustainability of the
companies comprising the NIFTY index in India. The paper provides insights about the CER of the
corporates studied by categorizing them into different groups.
 CHAPTER – I

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

The environmental aspect of CSR has been debated over the past few decades, as
stakeholders increasingly require organizations to become more environmentally aware and socially
responsible. In the traditional business model, environmental protection was considered only in
relation to the "public interest". Hitherto, governments had maintained principal responsibility for
ensuring environmental management and conservation.

The public sector has been focused on the development of regulations and the imposition of sanctions
as a means to facilitating environmental protection. Recently, the private sector has adopted the
approach of co-responsibility towards the prevention and alleviation of environmental damage. The
sectors and their roles have been changing, with the private sector becoming more active in the
protection of the environment. Many governments, corporations, and big companies are now
providing strategies for environmental protection and economic growth.

Due to the fact that corporate environmental reporting (CER) is largely voluntary and unregulated,
practice has evolved in the absence of a meaningful conceptual framework. This lack of a normative
theory stating what should be the content of CER as well as the methods for measuring reported
information being largely volumetric or content based, is advanced as a major limitation in the
existing literature. In this study, the well-established conceptual frameworks for financial reporting
are adapted as the basis for a CER conceptual framework in which four characteristics of CER
indicate its quality. Empirical methods for the measurement of such characteristics are also adapted
from the financial reporting literature. The main aim of this research is to use the adapted framework
to examine the extent of variation in the quality of CER and then to test its applicability to the key
motivational theories. This allows cross-sectional comparison to be made between different financial
accounting regimes (rules- vs. principles-based) as well as permits examination of the development of
CER over time. Further, the empirical work is extended to investigate the interrelationship between
the financial and environmental performance of a firm. Evidence in support of the legitimacy and
institutional theory explanations for disclosure motivations is comprehensively found through the
measures of the qualitative characteristics identified. That is, the use of a novel CER framework based
on financial reporting quality here enables a more robust understanding of the reporting behaviours
than previous work. Moreover, evidence for CER variation owing to the differences in financial
reporting regimes is found and thus, it is reasonable to assert that the culture of financial reporting, to
some extent, informs the nature of voluntary non-financial reporting. However, perhaps owing to the
short time frame of the investigation, evidence of financial rewards from being environmentally
effective or through providing CER is not found. The findings from this research will be of interest to
preparers and users of corporate environmental reports as well as to policymakers, particularly in
terms of enabling them to assess the quality of reporting and its level of fit with their expectations.
Moreover, they also shed light on the link between environmental performance, as manifested in
carbon emissions, and what is reported.
 CHAPTER- II

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is the specific procedures or techniques used to identify, select, process, and
analyse information about a topic. In a research paper, the methodology section allows the reader to
critically evaluate a study's overall validity and reliability.

The methodology adopted is largely analytical and descriptive. Reliance has been placed largely on
secondary sources like books and articles. The lectures and classroom discussion have been rich with
valuable pointers and gave direction to the research. The secondary sources such as the journals be it
national or international, the environmental law books and the online articles have helped us largely in
the research. Conformity has been shown towards the secondary sources of research and nothing apart
from the secondary sources has been used to derive the conclusion of the research paper. The basis of
selecting a research methodology is as under:

1) Title of the study:

“Corporate Environmental Responsibility to Abstain from Damaging Natural Environment and Its
Avoidance Causing the Violation of Rights of Public on Amravati City’’

2) Problem of the study:

The prime purpose of including CSR in corporate business is to make the corporate business activities
as well as the corporate culture both sustainable in three ways: economic, social and environmental.
Paying equal amount of attention to all the three dimensions, but many companies think that corporate
social responsibility is a much exterior part of their business, whereas most think it to be an irrelevant
issue for their business as satisfying their customers/clients is more important for them. It is further
felt that customer satisfaction is only about price and service, but concentrating on only these aspects
of business makes them blind folded towards other important changes taking place worldwide that
could blow the business out of the water. The change is named as social responsibility which is an
opportunity in itself for the business.

3) Rational of the study:

What has influenced the researcher to select the topic is that as companies get success in particular
market area it seeks to capture other market places irrespective of safety of general public for growing
its business in every corner which may sometimes lead to damaging environment .Also people in that
area has to face major health issues. E.g. Mobile tower companies have reached to every area
nowadays. This tower may harm the health of residents in society due to harmful radiation releases
from it which may affect the life of individual. Company’s responsibility towards avoidance of
environmental damage and safety of general public is an important issue which has been neglected
.On the other hand ,it was inspiration of my able supervisor that I decided to select the topic of my
research work on such essential issue that of Abstain from damaging natural environment and
violation of rights of public. I also shared the idea to carry on my work on this topic with my teachers
having past experiences whereby it had been inferred that there was an urgent need to look into the
current position.

4) Objectives of the study :

 Defend the environment, create balanced use of natural ingredients, and take important steps
to stop pollution from the several processes adopted by the industries.

 Encourage the viable use of raw resources and natural materials. Introduce strategies for
continuously enlightening our environmental duty.

 Introduce rules for continuous development in their ecological performance.

 Obey with the law in force on conservational protection, and with other willingly recognized
promises.

 To encourage, by on-the-job practice, the participation of all our workers, independently and
based on the team, in environmental safety problems.

 To unite with the liable Agencies as well as Governmental Authorities.

 To proceed with environmental protection courses.

 To talk and report on our eco-friendly management struggles.

 Implement and sustain the necessities of a Chain of Custody.

 Stop trade and acquisition of illegally obtained wood.

 Apply and continue a due industry system to avoid the acquisition and sale of criminally
harvested timber and its products.

5. Hypothesis:

1. According to medical reports, some ailments are caused by radiation or emission of

electromagnetic impulses from a telecom mast erected close to residential premises.
2. Frequent and close contacts with the radioactive substances could hamper memory and sleep
patterns, cause brain tumours, cancers and Alzheimer’s disease (loss of memory and ability to speak
clearly in older people).

3. Gas stations are found everywhere. They are so common and necessary that they became an
integral part of our daily lives. Thus, it is no wonder that they are not usually associated with
environmental and health risks, and even less with home pollution.

4. Infrastructure issues can also have a major impact on community health. Examples include the
following:

 Poorly maintained roads (increasing risk of car accidents)

 Lack of access to clean drinking water
 Lack of local health care infrastructure, such as clinics capable of giving
vaccinations

5. Contact with unsafe drinking or bathing water can impose serious risks (both acute and delayed) to
human health due to pollution in water by industries

6. High quantity of Exhaust gases: The biggest reason by far for all kinds of environmental damage is
the exorbitant amount of gases, harmful to the environment, which is released by the various
industries. Prime amongst these gases are C02, S02 and NH3.

7. Mining creates a lot of pollution, mainly because it releases particulate matter, which qualifies as
Respirable Particulate Matter (RPM); the particulate matter which can enter our lungs and can harm
the entire respiratory system. This form causes the most direct harm to humans, also particulate matter
can come from indoor pollution, as can be seen in cooking on traditional ‘choolahs’ and cottage
industries like ‘bangle-making’.

8. Effluents are another by-product of industries which poses threat to the environment, leather and
tanning industries, petroleum industries and chemical manufacturing industries create major waste
products which are released directly into nearby streams without treatment, creating river pollution
and causing harm to aquatic life.

9. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 1.6 million deaths in 2016 were
due to exposure to selected chemicals. Some examples of dangerous chemicals in the environment
are heavy metals and toxins that find their way into the water supply and harmful pesticides that make
their way into the food supply chain.
10. Studies have shown that air pollution effects on humans are a significant public health concern,
not only because of their role in climate change, but also because exposure to air pollution can
increase morbidity and mortality.According to the WHO, air pollution effects on humans are
significant. For example, air pollution causes:

 29% of all global deaths from lung disease

 24% of all global deaths from stroke
 17 % of all global deaths and disease from acute lower respiratory infection

6. Review and Literature:

The researcher will do all required efforts to review the available literature in regard of the research
topic along with the available government data, interviews of the officials and concerned authorities
and notifications, regulations, directions and office memorandum (OM) issued by the government .

7. Research Design:

Research design is a work plan or strategy used by the researcher to carry out the research by aligning
various components of research together to address the research problem. It constitutes the collection
of data, analysis of data to fulfil the object of study.

In the present research work, the researcher has collected the data by preparing the questionnaires
interviewing concerned officials and by using primary source of data.

After collecting the data, researcher has interpreted the data through which researcher will provide his
conclusion along with useful suggestions and recommendations.

Nature/Type of the study:

The research is the non-doctrinal type of research as it has been required that a non-doctrinal research
be made by the LL.M IIIrd semester student. The research will be made by collecting a data through
primary sources i.e. by preparing a questionnaire, taking interviews of officials as well as
beneficiaries under the research topic etc.

Universe:

Researcher will work on the aforesaid problems to find feasible solutions for it, which will be helpful
for the readers .Researcher will collect the documents as well as prepare the questionnaire for
obtaining the relevant information from the concerned people /officials in this regard by using
sampling method.

Method of data collection:

Researcher will collect the required/relevant information and data by visiting concerned Government
Offices or any other place especially designated by the competent authority. Similarly the researcher
may collect the data by invoking his “Right to Information”.

Source of data collection :

Researcher will collect the relevant data by use of available articles, acts, rule, notifications, case
laws, relevant and authentic data providing and by conducting a survey in the selected Universe.

Tools of data collection:

Researcher will adopt all relevant and feasible research methods and take all possible efforts to collect
the accurate data to do the informative socio-legal-research.

8. Limitations of study:

As a research is a non-doctrinal research, the scope of the study will be limited to the data available at
the primary source of information i.e. answer to the questions put up for collecting the data,
interviews etc. in regard to the research topic.

9. Time schedule:

As per the norms laid down by the University for Completion of research, researcher is required to
complete his/her research work within three months. The research will complete his research prior to
one month of examination of IIIrd semester.

10. Possible contribution of study:

The researcher will conduct the research on Corporate Environmental Responsibility to Abstain
from Damaging Natural Environment and Its Avoidance Causing the Violation of Rights of
Public in Amravati City etc. and find out all the possible ways to curb their problems .Also, this
researcher will work for the educational development which is need of hour.
 CHAPTER III

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

The present research is to determine the Corporate Environmental Responsibility to Abstain from
Damaging Natural Environment and Its Avoidance Causing the Violation of Rights of Public in
Amravati City by analyzing the data collected through the primary sources by means of interviews
of officials ,questionnaires for understanding the measures taken by the Government by framing any
rules, guidelines or by issuing any notification or office memorandum (OM) in this regard .The
analysis and interpretation of collected data will be helpful to provide the more efficient framework
and to evaluate the present framework available for this which can be used to provide timely as well
as effective relief and justice to the needful. For this purpose, the proper analysis and interpretation of
data is necessary.
 CHAPTER IV
(A) SUMMING UP:

- As per final research.

(B) MAJOR FINDINGS:

- As per final research.

(C) CONCLUSION:

- As per final research.

(D) SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATION:

- As per final research.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY/WEBLIOGRAPHY

 Government regulations issued by various governmental departments.

 Gazettes issued by the government in this regard.
 News article published on this.
 Article of jurists.

ANNEXTURE:

1. Interviews
2. Questionnaires
3. Charts
4. Reports
5. News items
6. Laws

Signature of researcher /Student

(LL.M. IIIrd semester)
(Corporate Law)