New Delhi: The Supreme Court said Friday the right to live in a pollution-free atmosphere is part of the fundamental right as it deleted the center’s office memorandum, allowing for post-event or retrospective environmental cleanup to violate the norm. The judge, composed of judges Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, made harsh remarks in his judgment on the defense brought by the Vanashakti organization, saying: “The coalition government, like individual citizens, has a constitutional obligation to protect the environment.
The court said what the center was trying to do “must be very significant” and that was completely prohibited by law.
It added: “Smartly speaking, the de facto words have not been used yet, but without the use of these words, there is a provision that effectively grants the after-fact facts. 2021 OM was issued in violation of the decision of this Court.”
Therefore, the bench announced the Office Memorandum (OM) and related circulars for 2021, which are illegal and violated the Environmental Act (Protection) Act of 1986 and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notice, 2006”.
As a result, the Center is limited to the direction of the issuance direction, granting an after-license in any form or manner, or formalizing conduct in violation of EIA notices.
According to Article 21 of the Constitution, the right to live in a pollution-free environment is guaranteed. It said that in fact, the 1986 bill had been enacted to grant this fundamental right, and therefore, even the central government had the responsibility to protect and improve the natural environment.
The court ruled that these measures illegally allow regularization of projects that violate environmental laws.
The court, in several decisions, held that the right to live in a pollution-free atmosphere was part of the fundamental right under article 21 of the Indian Constitution, had written letters for the bench.
The bench mentioned the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change notice of March 14, 2017, which applies to projects or activities that have begun work, expand production, exceed EC restrictions, or change production portfolios without obtaining ECs.
It added that the court had already concluded that the concept of post-event or retrospective EC was completely different from environmental jurisprudence and EIA notices.
It said that violations of the conditions for obtaining the previous EC must be handled with heavy hands.
On environmental issues, courts must be very strict about violations of environmentally-related laws. It said the Constitutional Court has the responsibility to do so.
The bench illustrates the enormous consequences of large-scale environmental degradation on human life in Delhi and several other cities.
For at least two months of each year, residents in Delhi suffocated due to air pollution. AQI levels are dangerous or very dangerous. Their health status. Other major cities are not far away. It said that air and water pollution in cities is increasing.
The bench said that OM violated Article 21 of the basic rights of all persons guaranteed under Article 21, which also violated the right to health guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The bench asked, is it wasted OM, is it developed at the cost of the environment? Environmental protection and its improvements are an important part of the development concept.
The Supreme Court further believes that the court should have a significant decline in such attempts.
“As mentioned earlier, OM deals with project supporters who are fully aware of EIA notices and who are conscious of the risk of violating EIA notices and continuing the project’s construction/continuing/extension. They have very little responsibility for the law and their protection of the environment, and they have very little responsibility for the environment.
In addition to violations of Section 21, the lawsuit is said to be a complete violation of Section 14 (Equality Rights), except for violations of the 1986 Act and the EIA Notice.
However, the bench said that in some cases, the de facto environmental clearance granted by the 2017 notice and the current stage of the 2021 OM will not be disturbed.
