The Supreme Court of India is considered by many to be the most environmentally friendly court in the world. We do not know how this assertion has come about but it points to other things.
Before we go ahead lets check out what the Court has accomplished.
The Indian Supreme Court has been most effective in protecting the environment. It is considered as one of the most environmentally friendly courts in the world. The Supreme Court of India has delivered landmark judgements. It has protected the Taj Mahal, which is one of the wonders of the world, has protected the Ganges, which is one of the holiest of holy rivers, from pollution. The Court also directed that every day on television and radio networks in the country at least seven minutes programme on environment should exclusively given and one prime programme should be given at prime time each week on environment.
The Daily Pioneer editorial discusses the request of the Indian government to the Supreme court to stop interfering in environmental matters.
The Union Government has made an outrageous demand to the Supreme Court that it should wind up its ‘green’ bench and stop ‘interfering’ in environmental matters…What the Supreme Court has wisely done is to expand the fundamental right to life to include the right to live in a healthy environment through its enforcement of the various environmental laws. In contrast, the record of the executive in relation to the ecosystem is far from satisfactory. One does not have to look too far, for the facts about India’s vanishing tigers are in the open, and shrinking forest cover, widespread pollution and a host of other issues that plague India are the result of executive bungling and corruption.
The Supreme Court has done some important work in the environmental area however, this points to a bigger problem of law making, execution and managing environmental issues in the country.
However, this suggests (PDF) the following:
The judiciary, a spectator to environmental exploitation for more than two decades has recently assumed a pro-active role of public educator, policy maker, super-administrator, and more generally, amicus environment. We can say environmental law in India as the story of India’s judiciary responding to the complaints of its citizens against environmental degradation and administrative sloth.
I am no expert on law making and definitely not environmental law but this constant tinkering is not the solution.
