INTRODUCTION

The quality of environment necessary for sustaining life is being progressively hampered by the
growing needs of human population. Modern society has realized the importance of protecting
and improving the environment for the existence of mankind. National and international
governmental organizations have taken an active role in safeguarding the environment. The legal
systems and legal principles formulated for this must needs be continuously revamped and
reappraised in order to assess the efficacy of the environmental legal system in addressing the
objectives. The legal system will be effective only when it can ensure justice to the entire
community.

Environmental justice is a movement that grew from the recognition of a disproportionate

number of environmental burdens in certain communities. It works to ensure a healthy
environment for all regardless of race, nationality, income, gender or age.

When you think about the environment, your mind might conjure up images of rambling rivers,
peaceful woodlands or scenic mountains. However, a broader definition of environment is the
surroundings or conditions in which a person lives. By this definition, the environment would
include your home, place of work, schools, and community parks. These are the places you
spend your time, and they play a big role in your overall health, happiness and well-being. Those
involved in the movement called environmental justice feel that a healthy environment is a
necessary component of a healthy life.

Environmental justice, social movement seeking to address the inequitable distribution of

environmental hazards among the poor and minorities. Advocates for environmental justice hold
that all people deserve to live in a clean and safe environment free from industrial waste
and pollution that can adversely affect their well-being. From a policy perspective, practicing
environmental justice entails ensuring that all citizens receive from the government the same
degree of protection from environmental hazards and that minority and underprivileged
populations do not face inequitable environmental burdens. Although most environmentalists
embrace environmental justice, a few traditional environmentalists have criticized the movement
as an attempt to shift the focus away from important environmental issues toward more-
anthropocentric concerns, such as racism, classism, and sexism.

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The Environmental Justice Movement has broadened the perspective of environment beyond the
scope of conservation and preservation of natural resources and has defined the environment as
“Where we live, work, play, learn and pray.”

The Environmental Justice movement is an inter-generational, multi-racial and international

movement that promotes environmental, economic and social justice by recognizing the direct
link between economic, environmental and health issues and demanding a safe, clean community
and workplace environment.

Environmental Justice refers to those cultural norms and values, rules, regulations, behaviors,
policies, and decisions to support sustainability, where all people can hold with confidence that
their community and natural environment is safe and productive. Environmental Justice is
realized when all people can realize their highest potential, without interruption by
environmental racism or inequity. Environmental Justice is supported by decent paying and
secure jobs; quality schools and recreation; decent housing and adequate health care; democratic
decision-making; and finally, personal empowerment. A community of Environmental Justice is
one in which both cultural and biological diversity are respected, and where there is equal access
to institutions and ample resources to grow and prosper.

DEFINITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines environmental justice as follows:

Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless
of race, colour, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and
enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. This goal will be achieved when
everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards, and equal
access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and
work.

Other definitions include: equitable distribution of environmental risks and benefits; fair and
meaningful participation in environmental decision-making; recognition of community ways of
life, local knowledge, and cultural difference; and the capability of communities and individuals

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to function and flourish in society. An alternative meaning, used in social sciences, of the term
“justice” is “the distribution of social goods”.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

According to Robert D. Bullard, who is also considered as father of environmental justice

movement in USA, a landmark garbage dispute took place in Houston, when African American
homeowners in 1979 began a bitter fight to keep a sanitary landfill out of their suburban middle-
income neighborhood. Residents formed the Northeast Community Action Group or NECAG.
NECAG and their attorney, Linda McKeever Bullard, filed a class action lawsuit to block the
facility from being built. The 1979 lawsuit, Bean v. southwestern Waste management, Inc., was
the first of its kind to challenge the sitting of a waste facility under civil rights law.

It has been suggested that the idea of Environmental Justice was birthed during the struggle
beginning in 1982 around the American Warren County PCB Landfill. The landmark Houston
case occurred three years before the environmental justice movement was catapulted into the
national limelight in the rural and mostly African American Warren County, North Carolina. The
environmental justice movement has come a long way since its humble beginning in Warren
County, North Carolina where a PCB landfill ignited protests and over 500 arrests. The Warren
County protests provided the impetus for an U.S. General Accounting office study, Sitting of
Hazardous Waste Landfills and Their Correlation with Racial and Economic Status of
Surrounding Communities. That study revealed that three out of four of the off-site, commercial
hazardous waste landfills in region (which comprises eight states in the south) happen to be
located in predominantly African-American communities, although African-Americans made up
only 20% of the region’s population. More important, the protesters put “environmental racism”
on the map. Fifteen years later, the state of North Carolina is required to spend over $25 million
to clean up and detoxify the Warren County PCB landfill.

The Warren Country protests also led the Commission for Racial Justice to produce the first
national study namely Toxic Waste and Race, to correlate waste facility sites and demographic
characteristics. Race was found to be the most potent variable in predicting where these facilities
were located – more powerful than poverty, land values, and home ownership. In 1990, Dumping
in Dixie : Race, Class, and Environmental Quality chronicled the convergence of two social

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movements – social justice and environmental movements – into the environmental justice
movement. What started out as local and often isolated community-based struggles against toxics
and facility sitting blossomed into a multi-issue, multi-ethnic, and multi-regional movement.

The 1991 First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit (also called Summit
I) was probably the most important single event in the movement’s history. The Summit
broadened the environmental justice movement beyond its early anti-toxics focus to include
issues of public health, worker safety, land use, transportation, housing, resource allocation, and
community empowerment. The meeting also demonstrated that it is possible to build a multi-
racial grassroots movement around environmental and economic justice.

Held in Washington, DC, the four-day Summit was attended by over 650 grassroots and national
leaders from around the world. People attended the Summit to share their action strategies,
redefine the environmental movement, and develop common plans for addressing environmental
problems affecting people of color in the United States and around the world.

On September 27, 1991, Summit delegates adopted 17 “Principles of Environmental Justice”.

These principles were developed as a guide for organizing, networking, and relating to
government and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

In response to growing public concern and mounting scientific evidence, President Clinton on
February 11, 1994 (the second day of the national health symposium) issued Executive Order
12898, “Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-
Income Populations”. This order attempts to address environmental injustice within existing
federal laws and regulations.

Executive Order 12898 reinforces the 35-year-old Civil rights Act of 1964, Title VI, which
prohibits discriminatory practices in programs receiving federal funds. The order also focuses the
spotlight back on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a twenty-five-year-old law
that set policy goals for the protection, maintenance, and enhancement of the environment.
NEPA’s goal is to ensure for all Americans a safe, healthful, productive, and aesthetically and
culturally pleasing environment. NEPA requires federal agencies to prepare a detailed statement
on the environmental effects of proposed federal actions that significantly affect the quality of

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human health. The Second National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit (also
called Summit II) occurred October 23-26, 2002 also in Washington.

PRINCIPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

The following 17 principles were adopted by delegates of the First National People of Color
Environmental Justice Summit in 1991. These principles were developed to serve as a “guide for
organizing, networking, and relating to government and nongovernmental organizations

1) Environmental Justice affirms the sacredness of Mother Earth, ecological unity and the
interdependence of all species, and the right to be free from ecological destruction.
2) Environmental Justice demands that public policy be based on mutual respect and
justice for all peoples, free from any form of discrimination or bias.
3) Environmental Justice mandates the right to ethical, balanced and responsible uses of
land and renewable resources in the interest of a sustainable planet for humans and other
living things.
4) Environmental Justice calls for universal protection from nuclear testing, extraction,
production and disposal of toxic/hazardous wastes and poisons and nuclear testing that
threaten the fundamental right to clean air, land, water, and food.
5) Environmental Justice affirms the fundamental right to political, economic, cultural and
environmental self-determination of all peoples.
6) Environmental Justice demands the cessation of the production of all toxins, hazardous
wastes, and radioactive materials, and that all past and current producers be held strictly
accountable to the people for detoxification and the containment at the point of
production.
7) Environmental Justice demands the right to participate as equal partners at every level
of decision-making, including needs assessment, planning, implementation, enforcement
and evaluation.
8) Environmental Justice affirms the right of all workers to a safe and healthy work
environment without being forced to choose between an unsafe livelihood and
unemployment. It also affirms the right of those who work at home to be free from
environmental hazards.

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 9) Environmental Justice protects the right of victims of environmental injustice to receive
full compensation and reparations for damages as well as quality health care.
10) Environmental Justice considers governmental acts of environmental injustice a
violation of international law, the Universal Declaration On Human Rights, and the
United Nations Convention on Genocide.
11) Environmental Justice must recognize a special legal and natural relationship of Native
Peoples to the U.S. government through treaties, agreements, compacts, and covenants
affirming sovereignty and self-determination.
12) Environmental Justice affirms the need for urban and rural ecological policies to clean
up and rebuild our cities and rural areas in balance with nature, honouring the cultural
integrity of all our communities, and provided fair access for all to the full range of
resources.
13) Environmental Justice calls for the strict enforcement of principles of informed consent,
and a halt to the testing of experimental reproductive and medical procedures and
vaccinations on people of colour.
14) Environmental Justice opposes the destructive operations of multi-national
corporations.
15) Environmental Justice opposes military occupation, repression and exploitation of
lands, peoples and cultures, and other life forms.
16) Environmental Justice calls for the education of present and future generations which
emphasizes social and environmental issues, based on our experience and an appreciation
of our diverse cultural perspectives.
17) Environmental Justice requires that we, as individuals, make personal and consumer
choices to consume as little of Mother Earth’s resources and to produce as little waste as
possible; and make the conscious decision to challenge and reprioritize our lifestyles to
ensure the health of the natural world for present and future generations.

IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

 It defines human relationship with the environment

The human relationship with the environment revolves around perception and value and the role
that these two plays in our behaviour and lives. One thing that shapes our values is justice. It

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drives and shapes us into being who we are. Most people recoil against injustice towards other
humans and other species of living organisms. Those who are empowered on environmental
injustice understand that it protects humanity and other lives by protecting the environment.

Thus, they condemn environmental pollution which can harm communities, individuals and
ecosystems. People also value outcomes they see as just. When people realize that environmental
justice protects environmental elements and commons that belong to their community, they
support it. When people realize this, they protect current and future generations by being
empowered through environmental justice initiatives.

 It highlights the importance of conservation and fair usage of natural resources

People get to conserve natural resources when they follow environmental justice. Given that
communities debate over justice when it comes to distributing available resources like water
fairly, it ensures the resources are used wisely. For instance, unfair distribution and usage of
natural resources can be dangerous especially in areas where they are scarce.

Environmental justice therefore emphasizes on fair distribution and opposes wastage. When the
principles of environmental justice are followed, injustices associated with natural resources are
forgotten and things like wars and clashes over usage of natural resources are forgotten.

 Sustainability can only be well comprehended through environmental justice

Sustainability revolves a lot around the indefinite time renewable resources can be harvested
while pollution reduces and humanity can stop being overly dependent on non-renewable
resources. Justice is about which rights are owed to what or who and assigning the right
treatments appropriate to behaviour and circumstance.

According to Wolfgang Sachs and Tilman Santarius have noted in their book, Fair Future,
everyone should be accountable according to their needs and rights. When we weigh the benefits
of environmental justice such as natural resources and burdens such as pollution, responsibility is
learned and solutions to attain sustainability are taken. Sure sustainability might be in a distant
future but the actions we take in the present through environmental justice initiatives take us a
step toward it.

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 It defines the need for just distribution of resources (distributive justice)

Because it is not wrong for one person to have more resources than others, distributive justice is
not about equally sharing resources. Just distribution of resources revolves around how the
people involved are involved with one another. Justice applies not when one has more resources
that another, but if one person takes resources from another person’s environment. It also applies
when one has more resources than they need while another is suffering for lacking any, this is
injustice. Environmental justice thus emphasizes on the law of distribution.

 It strengthens environmental laws, policies, and regulations

Justice falls under two categories; procedural justice which revolves around how policies are
decided on and consequentialist justice which is what comes off those decisions and actions. For
procedural justice, the rights of people have to be respected in making decisions. Since it
redistributes benefits and burdens, environmental justice supports the policies about the
environment. The principles of environmental justice support and strengthen environmental laws
through equal distribution of resources and laws regarding pollution.

ELEMENTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

The important elements of administration of environmental justice are given below

Fair distribution of environmental burden: The most important reason for the development of
environmental justice movement is the unequal distribution of environmental burdens on
different classes of people. The distribution of these burdens or harms is not in proportion to the
benefits derived by different communities. Hence it is the duty of the state to guarantee the fair
and proportionate distribution of environmental burdens without any discrimination. Sustainable
development is accepted as the basic principle of environmental jurisprudence, by most of the
countries in the globe. But in the modern competitive world the race for economic development
causes irreparable injuries to the environment. Even though the principle of sustainable
development provides a touchstone for evaluating the impact of development on environment, in
reality it is uncertain that its objectives can be attained because the quality of environment
throughout the globe is deteriorating, day by day. Economic development, population explosion,
poverty, international and national conflicts etc are causing serious and multidimensional

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environmental harms on the society. The objective of environmental justice is to prevent
environmental harms as far as possible. Since it is not possible to eradicate these harms, the
bestoption is to reduce environmental harms to the minimum and see to the fair distribution of
the same. But in reality, it is not possible to prevent the complete transfer of these burdens
because of the inherent nature of certain types of environmental problems like air and water
pollution. Hence in such situations the best alternative for the administration of environmental
justice is to adopt Polluter Pays principle and to minimize the impact of environmental harms on
the poor and the common man.

Equal access to environmental benefits: Equal access to environmental benefits means fair
distribution of environmental benefits to everyone without any discrimination. The goal of
environmental justice is to formulate and implement an environmental legal system which
ensures and safeguards the rights of all communities to the limited natural resources of the
society or nation. There are only limited natural resources available in a nation. Hence the
objective of environmental justice is the optimal utilization of the available natural resources and
the fair distribution of the same among different communities and different generations. Inter-
generational equity and intra generational equity are the two basic principles underlying the fair
distribution of natural resources.

Public Participation in Environmental decision making: Strategies for addressing

environmental issues and environmental protection should start from the grass root level.
Collection of information regarding environmental issues from the affected people is a must for
the effective formulation and implementation of environmental strategies. “The principle of
popular participation in defining the structure of public problems will bring about true
democracy”. The most important method employed to collect information from public is the
public hearing or public consultation process by administrative authorities. Environmental
decisions are taken by different organs of state. The general policy of the State is laid down by
the formulation of laws, rules and regulations concerning the particular area. Environmental
decision making at the administrative level determines the effectiveness and efficiency of
environmental laws and policies. But recently it is found that the role of public participation in
environmental decision making is gaining ground and many policies like Environmental Impact
Assessment make it a compulsory element. Indian judiciary has made an outstanding

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contribution towards the development of environmental jurisprudence and administration of
environmental justice.

Environmental awareness and education: An awareness of and knowledge about

environmental rights is a prerequisite for the common man to claim fairness in environmental
justice administration. Lack of environmental awareness and environmental education itself are
likely to cause environmental perils in society. The poverty and backwardness of many
communities aggravate the situation of environmental problems like pollution. “One of the major
concerns of a democratic setup in country like India is that the vast majority of the population
has little or no education and awareness and is therefore exploited by the few who have these
advantages”. “The present scenario of a depleting environment is due to the lack of proper
education of our people about the benefits of protecting the environment”. Hence it is the solemn
duty of the state to educate its citizens regarding their rights and duties towards the environment.
It enables them to comprehend the fact that their environmentally benign actions may in the long
run prove beneficial to them and to the society at large.

Access to justice: “To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay, right or justice”
Access to justice is one of the most important elements of administration of Environmental
Justice. From the distributive justice perspective, a fair distribution of environmental benefits and
burdens may provide environmental justice to the common man. Remedial justice aims at
guaranteeing proper remedies to aggrieved parties. Procedural justice guarantees a fair procedure
for realization of their remedies.

Transparency in administration of Environmental Justice: Lord Hewart’s dictum that,

“justice should not only be done but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done” is
realized by the application of the elements of environmental justice. Transparency in the
administration of environmental laws by administrative authorities is an important element of
administration of Environmental Justice. “It is increasingly being recognized that unless the
government and other sectors of the society are more open and transparent in their functioning, it
would be difficult to control corruption and ensure that the benefits of governance and
development go to those who deserve it most”. A participatory decision-making process and
availability of relevant information to the affected parties and addressing their grievances play an
important role in making the process transparent.

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Environmental Impact Assessment: Environmental Impact Assessment is the most important
and popular tool that is used throughout the world and which can guarantee environmental
justice to the people. Environmental Impact Assessment can be considered a yardstick for sound
assessment of developmental proposals. Environmental Impact Assessment stresses the fact that
the developmental proposals should not only be assessed on technical, economic and political
criteria but also on environmental and social criteria. One of the most important functions of EIA
is to collect objective and credible information regarding the project and to assist the decision
makers to arrive at a fair, objective, unbiased and balanced decision.

Social Impact Assessment: Social Impact Assessment includes the processes of analyzing,
monitoring and managing the intended and unintended social consequences, both positive and
negative, of planned interventions (policies, programs, plans, projects) and any social change
processes invoked by those interventions. Its primary purpose is to bring about a more
sustainable and equitable biophysical and human environment. Social Impact Assessment is
comparatively a new tool in the administration of Environmental Justice. The object of Social
Impact Assessment is to appraise the impact of a project proposal on the social values, cultures
and structures. The importance of the tool lies in the fact that it can be utilised effectively to
bring social justice to the common man.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE MOVEMENTS IN INDIA

The environmental justice movement in India has a long history. The Chipko Andolan of 1973 is
seen as the first environmental justice movement of the country, although concerns for
environmental protection can be traced back to protests against the commercialization of forests
in the early twentieth century under the British rule. Such early grassroots resistances with
ecological undertones like the Bengal peasant revolt of 1859-63 against indigo plantations are
considered to have resemblances to the present-day protests against industrial tree plantations in
the global South. Gandhi’s freedom movement also rang with concerns for the ecosystem and its
people. After independence, there was a heavy boost to large infrastructure for nation building
such as multi-purpose dam projects and steel plants. Although this impetus on rapid
industrialization couldn’t bring the desired economic growth, it unwittingly ushered in a wave of
environmental justice movements in the country, such as the Narmada BachaoAndolan or the
Chipko movement or the Silent Valley protest. The protests over the Bhopal accident of 1984

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have lasted until today. More recent movements include those against corporate giants such as
Vedanta in Niyamgiri, Odisha, or Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu. These movements are often drawn
out, filled with uncertainty, and involve multiple layers of injustices and inequalities. They also
often include Adivasis, the indigenous population, at the forefront.

Some of the major environmental movements in India are the following:

 Bishnoi Movement: Amrita Devi, a female villager could not bear to witness the destruction
of both her faith and the village’s sacred trees. She hugged the trees and encouraged others to
do the same. 363 Bishnoi villagers were killed in this movement.
 Chipko Movement: Mr. Bahuguna enlightened the villagers by conveying the importance of
trees in the environment which checks the erosion of soil, cause rains and provides pure air.
The women of Advani village of Tehri-Garhwal tied the sacred thread around trunks of trees
and they hugged the trees, hence it was called the ‘Chipko Movement’ or ‘hug the tree
movement’.
 Jungle Bachao Andholan: The tribals of the Singhbhum district of Bihar started the protest
when the government decided to replace the natural sal forests with the highly-priced teak.
This move was called by many “Greed Game Political Populism”. Later this movement
spread to Jharkhand and Orissa.
 Appiko Movement: It can be said that the Appiko movement is the southern version of the
Chipko movement. The Appiko Movement was locally known as “Appiko Chaluvali”. The
locals embraced the trees which were to be cut by contractors of the forest department. The
Appiko movement used various techniques to raise awareness such as foot marches in the
interior forest, slide shows, folk dances, street plays etc
 Narmada Bachao Andholan (NBA):The movement first started as a protest for not providing
proper rehabilitation and resettlement for the people who have been displaced by the
construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. Later on, the movement turned its focus on the
preservation of the environment and the eco-systems of the valley. Activists also demanded
the height of the dam to be reduced to 88 m from the proposed height of 130m. World Bank
withdrew from the project. The environmental issue was taken into court. In October 2000,
the Supreme Court gave a judgment approving the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam
with a condition that the height of the dam could be raised to 90 m. This height is much

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 higher than the 88 m which anti-dam activists demanded, but it is definitely lower than the
proposed height of 130 m. The project is now largely financed by the state governments and
market borrowings. The project is expected to be fully completed by 2025.

ENVIRONMENT JUSTICE AND NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL

Government of India has formed National Green Tribunal (NGT) during the year 2010. NGT is a
‘quasi-judicial’ body exclusively deals with the environment related civil litigations. Before
NGT has evolved, there were two previous efforts to establish green courts in India. These were
National Environment Tribunal Act, of 1995 and National Environment Appellate Authority Act,
of 1997. However, the most effective environment court in the form of NGT has come into
reality in 2010. After its establishment, NGT has settled many environmental issues and has got
overwhelm response from different corners. Although there many limitations in NGT act and its
procedures, it can be viewed as a positive step towards the environmental justice in India. In
India, National Green Tribunal was established in 2010 under ‘Article 21’ of the Indian
Constitution. This particular article of Indian constitution assured its citizens for the protection of
life and personal liberty. Keeping in view of this constitutional right, the government has started
a new green tribunal to exclusively deal with the environment related litigations. The newly
established “Green Tribunal” is a unique judicial mechanism in the sense that it is a special ‘fast-
track quasi-judicial’ body to ensure speedy justice on the environment related cases. The
Tribunal comprises of equal number of judges and environmental experts to ensure efficient
disposal of cases. It has also provision of compensation to be paid by the polluter for damages
caused to the effected parties. The tribunal has jurisdiction on environment related subjects.
Tribunal is not bound by the Civil Procedure Code of 1908. It works on the ‘principles of natural
justice’.

ADMINISTRATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE BY JUDICIARY

In India the development of administration of environmental justice is mainly indebted to

judicial creativity and judicial wisdom. The judiciary has played a commendable role in
moulding the environmental jurisprudence of our nation. Landmark decisions of our Apex Court
resulted in the application of the various elements of environmental justice to concrete cases.
Some of the important principles of environmental jurisprudence like Polluter Pays Principle,

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Principle of Public Trust, Sustainable Development, Inter-generational Equity and Absolute
Liability Principle were adopted and adapted by our judiciary to administer environmental justice
to the deserving members of the community. As the protector and guardian of our Constitution,
our Apex Court has evolved many fundamental rights from Part III of our Constitution. The role
of our judiciary in recognizing and developing our right to a healthy environment as a
fundamental right is unparalleled. Another important contribution of the judiciary is the
development of Public Interest Litigation in environmental matters. The liberalization of locus
standi has resulted in guaranteeing access to justice to millions of deprived citizens of our
country.

Our Apex Court had even constituted a dedicated Green Bench for dealing environmental issues,
exclusively. In State of Uttaranchal v Balwant Singh Chaufal,1 Hon’ble Justice Dalveer Bhandari
observed “This Court and the High Courts, by their judicial creativity and craftsmanship have
passed a number of directions in the larger public interest in consonance with the inherent spirits
of the Constitution. The conditions of the marginalized and the vulnerable section of society
have significantly improved on account of courts directions in the P.I.L.

In Orissa Mining Corporation Limited v Ministry of Environment and Forest,2 Hon’ble Supreme
Court has made a detailed analysis of the distribution of environmental benefits and burdens
among the Scheduled Tribes and Traditional Forest Dwellers and directed the concerned Gram
Sabha in association with the State government to consider their claims and to take appropriate
decision in respect of their individual, community rights as well as traditional and customary
rights.

Our Apex Court has played a decisive role in balancing the equitable distribution of
environmental benefits and burdens on conflicting interests of different groups. One glaring
example of the same is the decision in State of Kerala v Joseph Antony 3. In this case the
environmental issue involved is the over exploitation of the natural fish resources in the sea and
marine pollution by the highly mechanized and modern fishing crafts. The issue gave rise to a
dispute between the fishermen in the State of Kerala who use traditional fishing crafts such as
catamarans, country crafts and canoes which use manually operated traditional nets and those
1
AIR 2010 SC 2550.
2
AIR 2013 SC (Supp) 191
3
(1994) 1 SCC 301.

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who use mechanized crafts which mechanically operate sophisticated nets like purse seine, ring
seine, pelagic trawl and mid-water trawl gears for fishing in the territorial waters of the State.
Hence in this case the court was faced an issue to balance their respective interests. The Hon’ble
Supreme Court ventured into the analysis of the impact of the activities of the traditional
fishermen and modern mechanized fishermen on the natural resources and made a comparative
analysis of the environmental burdens and benefits among them. On the basis of the analysis the
court held that the restrictions imposed by the Government on the mechanized crafts are
reasonable under Article 19(6) of the Constitution and the same is necessary to protect the right
to life of the traditional poor fisherman.

Banwasi Sewa Ashram v State of U.P, 4 is another landmark case in which the Apex Court have
made serious efforts to balance the environmental benefits of the general community, due to
forest protection and setting up of a thermal power plant, and consequential environmental
burdens on the tribal community. Taking into account the necessity to protect forests and the
growing demand for electricity for development the court decided to settle the claims of
displaced tribals. To balance their interest the court issued detailed directions to the concerned
authorities to disseminate sufficient information and to give proper assistance and legal service
to the tribals. Taking into account the deplorable conditions and illiteracy of the tribals the
Supreme Court had issued detailed directions to constitute special inquiry booths for tribals,
appointment of record officers, constitution of special appellate authority for five regions with
five Additional District Judges and provision for free legal aid. The court also obtained an
undertaking from the government to fulfil the decisions rendered by the appellate authority.
Hence in this case the Hon’ble Supreme Court had evolved ingenious directions to simplify the
procedure for guaranteeing fairness in administration of environmental justice to the tribals.

CONCLUSION

Environmental justice affirms the sacredness of Mother Earth, ecological unity and the
interdependence of all species, and the right to be free from ecological destruction.
Environmental justice demands that public policy be based on mutual respect and justice for all
peoples, free from any form of discrimination or bias. Environmental justice mandates the right
to ethical, balanced and responsible uses of land and renewable resources in the interest of a
4
(1986) 4 SCC 753.

15
sustainable planet for humans and other living things. Environmental justice calls for universal
protection from nuclear testing, extraction, production, and disposal of toxic/hazardous wastes
and poisons and nuclear testing that threaten the fundamental right to clean air, land, water, and
food. Environmental justice affirms the fundamental right to political, economic, cultural, and
environmental self-determination of all peoples. Environmental justice demands the cessation of
the production of all toxins, hazardous wastes, and radioactive materials, and that all past and
current producers be held strictly accountable to the people for detoxification and the
containment at the point of production. Environmental justice demands the right to participate as
equal partners at every level of decision-making including needs assessment, planning,
implementation, enforcement, and evaluation. Environmental justice affirms the right of all
workers to a safe and healthy work environment, without being forced to choose between an
unsafe livelihood and unemployment. It also affirms the right of those who work at home to be
free from environmental hazards. Environmental justice protects the right of victims of
environmental injustice to receive full compensation and reparations for damages as well as
quality health care.. Environmental justice calls for the education of present and future
generations which emphasizes social and environmental issues, based on our experience and an
appreciation of our diverse cultural perspectives. Environmental justice requires that we, as
individuals, make personal and consumer choices to consume as little of Mother Earth’s
resources and to produce as little waste as possible; and make the conscious decision to
challenge and reprioritize our lifestyles to ensure the health of the natural world for present and
future generations. The management of environmental issues with environmental justice
perspective guarantees transparency, accountability and public participation in environmental
decision making. It helps in the internalization of environmental decisions by the society and
contributes towards the protection and improvement of the environment. The important
ingredients of environmental justice are fair treatment of all people, meaningful involvement of
all people, environmental protection to all without any discrimination and equal access to
environmental decision-making process.

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