SHEET RESPONDENTS’ SIDE

CASELAWS -
S.P. Gupta v. Union of India (1981)
7 judges bench
Page 149
Justice bhagwati
Any third party can only file a PIL when the local community is incapable of defending their own rights.
But here the petitioner has failed to prove the same.

BALCO Employees Union v. Union of India (2002)

3 judge bench
Page 334
Justice b.n kirpal
Unless there is a significant problem or the decision contradicts any legal statute or the Constitution, the
Court is unable to intervene. Additionally, the Court is not permitted to assess the comparative advantages
of various economic policies and cannot invalidate a policy simply because another option might have
been more equitable and effective.

L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India (1997)

7 judge bench
Page 262
Justice A.M. Ahmadi
the High Courts should be approached first in the cases of PILs concerning environmental damage before
approaching supreme court.

Bhopal Gas Peedith Mahila Udyog Sangathan v. Union of India, (2012)

3 judge bench
Page 327
Justice swatanter kumar
that the NGT is the appropriate forum for environmental matters and directed the petitioners to approach
it first.

Narmada Bachao Andolan v. Union of India, (2000)

3 judge bench
Page 665
Justice b.n. kirpal
the petitions related to environmental concerns should be entertained only when they have scientific
backings.

State of Uttaranchal v. Balwant Singh Chaufal (2010)

2 judge bench
Page 403
Justice dalveer bhandari
“In the context of Public Interest Litigations (PILs), it is essential to uphold their integrity and
significance. Guidelines have been established to promote only those PILs that are authentic and
legitimate, while discouraging those filed for ulterior motives – PILs should be permitted only in cases
where there is a substantial public interest at stake, and the situation is so serious and urgent that it
requires priority over other issues.”

Aravali Golf Club v. Chander Hass, (2008)

2 judge bench
Page 685
justice A.K. Mathur
Instances have frequently arisen where judges have inappropriately attempted to carry out legislative or
executive roles. This is evidently against the constitution. Under the guise of judicial activism, judges
should not overstep their boundaries and attempt to assume duties that rightfully belong to another organ
of the state.”

E.P. Royappa v. State of T.N., (1974)

5 judge bench
Page 5
Justice P.N. Bhagwati
Article 14, does not only include “Equality before law” but also include protection against arbitrary and
unfair state actions and decisions. If the act is arbitrary, it directly violates Article 14

State of West Bengal v. Anwar Ali Sarkar, (1952)

7 judge bench
Page 4
Patanjali sastri CJ
The government’s actions are not arbitrary as they are distinguishing between different groups rationally
to serve a legitimate purpose of law and hence the principles of Intelligible Differentia and Rational
Nexus are fulfilled.

Intelligible Differentia - It means that the classification made by a law must be based on a clear, logical,
and distinguishable reason.

Rational Nexus- The classification made under Intelligible Differentia must have a direct and reasonable
connection with the objective of the law.

M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (Shriram – Oleum Gas), (1987)

5 judge bench
Page 396
Justice ranganath misra
if a person does not assert their fundamental rights in due time, it can be assuemed that they have waived
them.

Vellore Citizens’ Welfare Forum v. Union of India (1996)

3 judge bench
Page 648
Justice Kuldip singh
when environmental risks exist, the government must act in the public interest.

Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, (1978)

7 judge bench
Page 258
M H Beg CJ
that reasonable restrictions can be imposed on Article 21 if they are just, fair and reasonable.

State of West Bengal v. Bela Banerjee, (1954)

5 judge bench
Page 649
Patanjali sastri CJ
that if the government follows the procedure and gives fair and adequate compensation, the land –
acquisition is valid.
Jolly George Verghese & Anr v. Bank of Cochin, (1980) 2 SCC 360.
2 jugde bench
Page 367
V.R. Krishna Iyer
The positive commitment of a State Party ignites legislative action at home but does not automatically
make the covenant an enforceable part of the corpus juris of India. Till then, the aggrieved party cannot
complain of a breach of the covenant, nor can the court enforce it as a part of domestic law."

State of W.B. v. Subodh Gopal Bose, (1953)

5 judge bench
Page 694
Justice m.c. mahajan
individual rights and economic and social development must be balanced and the government in the
present case is doing the same.

M.C. Mehta v. Kamal Nath, (1997)

2 judge bench
Page 389
Justice kuldip singh
executing developmental projects sustainably is the constitutional duty of the government and here the
government is working for the socio – economic development of the people and that too sustainably.

Indian Handicrafts Emporium v. Union of India, (2003)

3 judge bench
Page no 590
Justice S.B. Sinha
there must be a balance between the cultural rights and the economic development of a region, and the
government is exactly doing that.

M. Ismail Faruqui v. Union of India, (1994)

5 judge bench
Page 362
Justice J.S. Verma
Article 29 does not prevent the government from acquiring land, unless and until the cultural and
religious practices are being completely erased.

Essar Oil Ltd. v. Halar Utkarsh Samiti, (2004)

2 judge bench
Page 393
Justice ruma pal
developmental projects can proceed if the government is executing them sustainably and adequate
environmental safeguards are undertaken, which includes its biodiversity conservation strategies.

State of Gujarat v. Mirzapur Moti Kureshi Kassab Jamat, (2005)

7 judge bench
Page 536
R.C. Lahoti, CJ
state can impose reasonable restrictions for reasons of national security and public interest.

ARTICLES
Article 32 -
(1) The right to move the Supreme Court by appropriate proceedings for the enforcement of the rights
conferred by this Part is guaranteed.

(2) The Supreme Court shall have power to issue directions or orders or writs, including writs in the
nature of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari, whichever may be
appropriate, for the enforcement of any of the rights conferred by this Part.

(3) Without prejudice to the powers conferred on the Supreme Court by clauses (1) and (2), Parliament
may by law empower any other court to exercise within the local limits of its jurisdiction all or any of the
powers exercisable by
the Supreme Court under clause (2).

(4) The right guaranteed by this article shall not be suspended except as otherwise provided for by this
Constitution.

Article 226
(1) Notwithstanding anything in article 32, every High Court shall have power, throughout the territories
in relation to which it exercises jurisdiction, to issue to any person or authority, including in appropriate
cases, any Government, within those territories directions, orders or writs, including writs in the nature of
habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari, or any of them, for the enforcement
of any of the rights conferred by Part III and for any other purpose.
Article 14
The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within
the territory of India.

Article 48 A
The State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wild
life of the country.

Article 15
(1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place
of birth or any of them
(4) Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special
provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.

Article 21
No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by
law.

Article 29 (1)
Any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language,
script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same.

Article 38
(1) The State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting as effectively as
it may a social order in which justice, social, economic and political, shall inform all the institutions of the
national life.

(2) The State shall, in particular, strive to minimise the inequalities in income, and endeavour to eliminate
inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities, not only amongst individuals but also amongst groups
of people residing in different areas or engaged in different vocations.

Article 39 A
The State shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal
opportunity, and shall, in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or schemes or in any
other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied
to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities.
Article 46
The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of
the people, and, in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them
from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.

STATUTES
National Green Tribunal Act 2010
Section 14(1)
The Tribunal has jurisdiction over all cases where a substantial question relating to the environment is
there and it has powers to provide relief or compensation to the victims of environmental damages.

WILDLIFE (PROTECTION) ACT, 1972

Section 18
The State Government has the authority, through a notification, to announce its plan to establish a
sanctuary in any area that is not part of a reserve forest or territorial waters if it deems that the area has
sufficient ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological, natural, or zoological importance for the
protection, propagation, or development of wildlife or its habitat.”

EIA Notification, 2006

If the required Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and public consultation procedures were
conducted and no objections were raised, the government is not obligated to provide further responses
beyond the statutory process.

THE ENVIRONMENT (PROTECTION) ACT, 1986

Section 3 (1)
Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Central Government, shall have the power to take all such
measures as it deems necessary or expedient for the purpose of protecting and improving the quality of
the environment and preventing controlling and abating environmental pollution.”

Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA)

Section 4 (i)
approve the plans, programmes and projects for social and economic development before such plans,
programmes and projects are taken up for implementation by the Panchayat at the village level

Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006
Section 6 (1)
The Gram Sabha shall be the authority to initiate the process for determining the nature and extent of
individual or community forest rights or both that may be given to the forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes
and other traditional forest dwellers within the local limits of its jurisdiction under this Act by receiving
claims, consolidating and verifying them and preparing a map delineating the area of each recommended
claim in such manner as may be prescribed for exercise of such 7 rights and the Gram Sabha shall, then,
pass a resolution to that effect and thereafter forward a copy of the same to the Sub-Divisional Level
Committee.

SDGs
a UN General Assembly Resolution (A/RES/70/1) in 2015 as the 2030 UN Agenda. (General
Assembly on 25 September 2015)
Paragraph 75
“The objectives and targets will be monitored and evaluated using a series of global indicators. These will
be enhanced by indicators at both regional and national levels that will be created by Member States,
along with the results from efforts to establish baselines for targets lacking national and global baseline
data.”

REPORTS
The IPCC’s 2021 Climate Report
ecological imbalance or climate change at one region can have cascading effects on other regions as well.
The Precautionary Principle and the Sustainable Development Goals must be enforced here for the
sustenance of the planet. And hence the government’s decision is not just for the welfare and benefit of
the local community but the larger global community.