Polluting Environment, Polluting Constitution: Is a 'Polluted' Constitution Worse than a Polluted Environment?

Air Pollution in Delhi: A Review of Past and Current Policy Approaches

“…First, Dam and Tewary [16] argued that the "environmental activism" of the Court has created a situation of institutional imbalance wherby the judiciary power has been exerting executive power, a situation which has also undermined citizens' ability to engage with the other institutions of the State.…”

Chapter Three. Theorisation Of The Various Human Rights Approaches To Environmental Issues

“…22 Th ese constitutional provisions, which obligate respectively the state and the citizen to protect the environment, were referred to in many judicial decisions, and therefore led to the creation of a new right to a clean environment. 23 In L.K. Koolwal v. State of Rajasthan and Others, the High Court concluded that, while every citizen has a constitutional duty under Article 51A to protect and preserve the environment, the citizen also has the right "to move the Court for the enforcement of the duty cast on the State instrumentalities [and] agencies. "…”

Human Rights and the Environment

“…22 According to Berry, an historian of cultures and a Catholic priest, even the Chinese's idyllic view of nature did not prevent Chinese people from wiping out most of their ancient forests. 23 In a similar vein, Tomalin made a useful distinction between two religious approaches to nature: 'nature religion' and 'religious environmentalism' . 24 By 'nature religion' , Tomalin referred to the traditional religious worship of some elements of nature, practised by many Eastern religions.…”

“…Burke based his objection on the fact that human beings are not equal in reality and concluded that human rights rhetoric is misleading and utopian. 23 However, his argument is untenable because the inequalities in people's physical abilities, mental abilities and their socio-economic status are not an impediment to the enjoyment of human rights. In contrast, the core function of human rights is, based on the inherent characteristic of human dignity, to rectify inequity among human beings.…”

“…22 In Robinson's opinion, the image of the triangle refl ects 'the intersection not the integration of these three goals. ' 23 It follows that all three discourses are to be viewed as goals in themselves and not as mere instruments, each for the implementation of the other. Sustainable development, then, is not portrayed as a concept of integration between human rights and environment, but as a distinct entity that needs to be implemented as a separate goal of international law.…”