Indian Council for Enviro-legal Action Vs Union of India

 In which of the following did the court accept the precautionary principle along with the polluter pays principle as part of the legal system?

a. Vellore Citizens welfare forum vs Union of India

b. M.C.Mehta Vs Kamal Nath

c. Narmada Bachao Andolan Vs Union of India

d. Indian Council for Enviro-legal Action Vs Union of India è

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Indian Council for Enviro-legal Action Vs Union of India

In this case, the Principle of “Polluter Pays” was expressly implemented, as the Court ruled that, under Section 3 and Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Court has the authority to undertake steps to put such a rule into effect. It was introduced under Principle 16 of the Rio Summit of 1992 which specified that the polluter must principally pay for the pollution charges.

There is also a debate about whether only a civil action against the polluter is satisfactory or whether there is a necessity to make the polluters criminally liable as well. The provisions of Sections 268 and 290 of the Indian Penal Code were already being utilized to declare the accused criminally responsible for public nuisance in relation to environmental disturbance, which was way before the adoption of the Stockholm Declaration in 1972. Following the Stockholm Declaration, the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Act of 1974, and the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Act of 1981 contain the provisions for the initiation of criminal proceedings against such polluters.

Basically, the court implemented the concept of polluters pay, which implies, as per the court, that if an activity carried out, is of a harmful nature, then the individuals conducting these very activities will be required to compensate to make up for the damage caused to any other person irrespective of whether appropriate precautionary measures were taken or not while carrying out such an activity.

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