India · 3rd Year · Environmental Law
Statutes & Leading Cases
From Stockholm to climate rights.
Space flip · ← → navigate · S save
Show all 10 questions and answers in this book
1.Which constitutional provisions protect the environment, and how were they added?
Article 48A (State's duty) and Article 51A(g) (citizens' duty), both inserted by the 42nd Amendment, 1976.
Constitution of India, Arts 48A, 51A(g)
2.Main Indian pollution statutes and years?
Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974; Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981; Environment (Protection) Act 1986.
Water Act 1974; Air Act 1981; EPA 1986
3.Which disaster led to the Environment (Protection) Act 1986?
The Bhopal gas leak of December 1984.
EPA 1986
4.Which Act set up the National Green Tribunal?
The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010.
NGT Act 2010
5.Subhash Kumar v State of Bihar (1991) — held?
The right to life under Article 21 includes the right to enjoy pollution-free water and air.
(1991) 1 SCC 598
6.Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v Union of India (1996) — principle?
Applied the polluter pays principle: polluting industries must pay to remedy the damage they caused.
(1996) 3 SCC 212
7.M.C. Mehta v Kamal Nath (1997) — doctrine?
Public trust doctrine: the State holds natural resources as trustee for the public and cannot transfer them for private use that harms the public.
(1997) 1 SCC 388
8.T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v Union of India — significance?
A continuing mandamus case in which the Supreme Court gave "forest" its dictionary meaning, covering all forests irrespective of ownership.
(1997) 2 SCC 267
9.M.K. Ranjitsinh v Union of India (2024) — held?
Recognised a right to be free from the adverse effects of climate change under Articles 14 and 21.
Supreme Court, 2024
10.Which 1972 conference prompted India's environmental legislation?
The UN Conference on the Human Environment at Stockholm, 1972.
Stockholm Declaration 1972