Professional Documents
Culture Documents
• Topic-4.1
Polluter Pays Principle
• Topic-4.2
Precautionary Principle
• Topic-4.3
Public Trust Doctrine
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• Topic-4.4
Sustainable Development
• Topic-4.5
Cases at National Green Law Tribunal
• Topic-4.6
Powers and functions of NGT
damaged ecology.
• Thus, the ‘polluter pays principle’ means the absolute
liability for harm to the environment extends not only to
compensate the victims of pollution but also to the cost of
restoring the environmental degradation.
• Remediation of the damaged environment is part of the
process of sustainable development.
Indian Judiciary and PPP
• In this case, five chemical industries were producing
H-acid (1-napthol-8-amino, 6- disciphonic acid).
• An azo dye and untreated toxic sludge were
discharged into the open compound which, in due
course of time, flowed through a canal across the
entire area and the rainwater washed the sludge deep
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Mahal’.
• The court ordered the industries to shift away from
the Taj Trapezium or to switch over to gas as fuel.
• The industries which did not switch over to gas
were ordered to be closed down unconditionally
by December 31, 1997.
Indian Judiciary and PPP
• Even the workers of the industries were also
recognized as the victims of the polluting industries
and for the closure of industry, the workers are not to
be thrown out of the industry without any
economic/job security.
• They were also held to be entitled to certain rights
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International Law.
• The Precautionary Principle was acknowledged on
international level when the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change was adopted.
Basic Features of Precautionary Principle
3. Alternatives Assessment
4. Full cost accounting
5. Participatory Decision Process
1. Anticipatory Action:
• There is a duty to take anticipatory action to
prevent harm.
• Governments, businesses, and community
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plans.
• The burden to supply this information lies with the
proponent, not with the general public.
3. Alternatives Assessment:
• An obligation exists to examine a full range of
alternatives and select the alternative with the
least potential impact on human health and the
environment, including the alternative of doing
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nothing.
4. Full cost accounting:
• When evaluating potential alternatives, there is a
duty to consider all the reasonably foreseeable
costs, including raw materials, manufacturing,
transportation, use, cleanup, eventual disposal,
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• A few important
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Topic-4.3
What is Public Trust Doctrine?
• The Public Trust Doctrine is the principle that
certain resources are preserved for public use,
and that the government is required to
maintain them for the reasonable public use.
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Basic idea
• The Public Trust Doctrine primarily rests on the
principle that certain resources like air, water, sea
and the forests have such a great importance to
people as a whole that it would be wholly
unjustified to make them a subject of private
ownership.
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natural gas.
• The Court also relied on Article 39 included in
Part IV of the Constitution which calls for an
equitable distribution of India’s material
resources to best serve the common good which
includes fairness to future generations.
Earlier v/s recent court interpretations
3. environmental protection.
• It is crucial to harmonize them.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
years.
• There are 17 goals and 169 targets to be achieved
by 2030.
• Reaching the goals requires action on all fronts-
governments, businesses, civil society and people
everywhere all have a role to play.
Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum v. Union of India
AIR 1996 SC 2715
• In Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum v. Union of India, the
Supreme Court opined, the traditional concept that
development and ecology are opposed to each other, is no
longer acceptable, sustainable development is the answer.
• Sustainable Development means to fulfill the need of
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the air, water and land to such an extent that it becomes a health hazard for
the residents of the area.
• Showing deep concern to the environment, the court reiterated, "Every
citizen has a right to fresh air and to live in pollution free environment."
• Thus, the SC once again treated it as violation of Article 21 of the
Constitution and passed the order in absolute terms under Article 32
directing the stone crushing units to stop their activities in those areas.
• The Court further directed the government to rehabilitate these stone
crushers in "crushing zone" within the period of six months.
Topic-4.5
Cases @ National Green Law Tribunal
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NGT bans on RO water filters
Friends through its General Secretary
v.
Ministry of Water Resources,
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Nuggehalli Jayasimha
v.
Government of NCT of Delhi
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Virender Singh,
Shailesh Singh
v.
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State of Karnataka,
Original Application No. 125/2017;
NGT order dated 18.12.2019
Pollution in Lakes
residential/commercial/industrial buildings in
violation of statutory provisions of the Water Act,
1974, particularly Section 25.
Pollution in Lakes
• The NGT noticed that the current situation was
that sewage continued to be discharged into the
lake with no plan of even immediate interim
preventive measures.
• There was large scale breach of public duties by
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