Page 1 of 12
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 10
November 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 237
Sustainable Development and Role of Judiciary
Dr. Sujata Rana
Assistant Professor B.S. Anangpuria Institute of Law Faridabad
Introduction
Environment problems is a burning
problems now a days, the need of its
protection is global issue. Industrialisation,
urbanisation, population explosion,
poverty, over exploitation of resource,
depletion of traditional resource of energy
and raw material etc. are some of the
factor which has contributed to
environmental deterioration the world
over.
It is the basic right of every human being
to live in a healthy environment under
article 21 of the constitution. The crying
need of hour is the sustainable
development.
The sustainable development is not a new
concept. The doctrine had come to be
known as early as in 1972 in the
Stockholm declaration.
What is sustainable development?
Sustainable development has been defined
in many ways, but the most frequently
quoted definition is from Our Common
Future, also known as the Brundtland
Report.
"Sustainable development is development
that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs. It
contains within it two key concepts:
The concept of needs, in particular the
essential needs of the world's poor, to
which overriding priority should be
given; and
The idea of limitations imposed by the
state of technology and social
organization on the environment's
ability to meet present and future
needs.
All definitions of sustainable
development require that we see the world
as a system—a system that connects space;
and a system that connects time. When you
think of the world as a system over space,
you grow to understand that air pollution
from North America affects air quality in
Asia, and that pesticides sprayed in
Argentina could harm fish stocks off the
coast of Australia. And when you think of
the world as a system over time, you start
to realize that the decisions our
grandparents made about how to farm the
land continue to affect agricultural practice
today and the economic policies we
endorse today will have an impact on
urban poverty when our children are
adults. We also understand that quality of
life is a system, too. It's good to be
physically healthy, but what if you are
poor and don't have access to education?
It's good to have a secure income, but what
if the air in your part of the world is
unclean? And it's good to have freedom of
religious expression, but what if you can't
feed your family? The concept of
sustainable development is rooted in this
sort of systems thinking. It helps us
understand ourselves and our world.
Page 2 of 12
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 10
November 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 238
The problems we face are complex
and serious and we can't address them in
the same way we created them. But we can
address them. It's that basic optimism that
motivates IISD's staff, associates and
board to innovate for a healthy and
meaningful future for this planet and its
inhabitants
Thus the goals of economic and
social development must be defined in
terms of sustainability in all countries
whether developed or developing, marked
oriented or centrally planned.
Development involves a progressive
transformation of economy and society at
large. Sustainable Development does not
imply absolute limits to growth and it is
not a new name of environment protection.
It is a new concept of economic growth. It
is a process of change, in which economic
and fiscal policies, trade and foreign
policies, energy, agricultural and industrial
policies all aim to induce development
paths those are economically, socially and
ecologically sustainable. The report
emphasized that sustainable development
cannot and will not be achieved in a world
by poverty. It called for a new era of
economic growth. Economic growth and
development obviously involves changes
in the physical ecosystem.
Principle of sustainable development
Some of the basic principles of
'Sustainable Development' as described in
'Brundtland report' are as follows: -
1. Inter Generational Equity
2. Use and Conservation of natural
resources
3. Environmental Protection
4. The Precautionary Principle
5. The Polluter Pays Principle
6. Obligation to assist and Co-operate
7. Eradication of poverty and
8. Financial assistance to the developing
Countries
Some of them are discussed in the light of
various case laws.
A. Inter-Generational Equity: The
principle talks about the right of every
generation to get benefit from the natural
resources. Principle 3 of the Rio
declaration states that:
“The right to development must be
fulfilled so as to equitably meet
developmental and environmental needs of
present and future generations”
The main object behind the principle is to
ensure that the present generation should
not abuse the non-renewable resources so
as to deprive the future generation of its
benefit.
B PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE
The main purpose of the
Precautionary Principle is to ensure that a
substance or activity posing a threat to the
environment is prevented from adversely
affecting the environment, even if there is
no conclusive scientific proof of linking
that particular substance or activity to
environmental damage. The words
substance and activity imply substance and
activities introduced as a result of human
intervention. In the context of the
municipal law, the precautionary principle
means;-
1. Environmental measures by the
state government and the local
authorities must anticipate, prevent
Page 3 of 12
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 10
November 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 239
and attack the causes of
environmental degradation.
2. Where there are threats of serious
and irreversible damage, lack of
scientific certainty should not be
used as a reason for postponing
measures to prevent environmental
degradation.
3. The onus of proof is on the actor or
the developer/industrialist to show
that his action is environmentally
benign
4. A.P. Pollution Control Board v/s
Prof. M.V.Naydu (Retd.) & others
is an example of precautionary
Principle.
Uncertainty becomes a problem when
scientific knowledge is institutionalized in
policy making or used as a basis for
decision-making by agencies and courts.
Scientists may refine, modify or discard
variables or models when more
information is available; however,
agencies and Courts must make choices
based on existing scientific knowledge. In
addition, agency decision making evidence
is generally presented in a scientific form
that cannot be easily tested. Therefore,
inadequacies in the record due to
uncertainty or insufficient knowledge may
not be properly considered.
The `uncertainty' of scientific proof and its
changing frontiers from time to time has
led to great changes in environmental
concepts during the period between the
Stockholm Conference of 1972 and the
Rio Conference of 1992.
In Vellore Citizens' Welfare Forum vs.
Union of India and Others [1996 (5) SCC
647], a three Judge Bench of this Court
referred to these changes, to the
`precautionary principle' and the new
concept of `burden of proof' in
environmental matters. Kuldip Singh, J.
after referring to the principles evolved in
various international Conferences and to
the concept of `Sustainable Development',
stated that the Precautionary Principle, the
Polluter-Pays Principle and the special
concept of Onus of Proof have now
emerged and govern the law in our country
too, as is clear from Articles 47, 48-A and
51-A(g) of our Constitution and that, in
fact, in the various environmental statutes,
such as the Water Act, 1974 and other
statutes, including the Environment
(Protection) Act, 1986, these concepts are
already implied. The learned Judge
declared that these principles have now
become part of our law. The relevant
observations in the Vellore Case in this
behalf read as follows: implement the
`Precautionary Principle' and the `Polluter
Pays Principle'." The learned Judges also
observed that the new concept which
places the Burden of Proof on the
Developer or Industrialist, who is
proposing to alter the status quo, has also
become part of our environmental law.
The Vellore judgment has referred to these
principles briefly but, in our view, it is
necessary to explain their meaning in more
detail, so that Courts and tribunals or
environmental authorities can properly
apply the said principles in the matters
which come before them. The
Precautionary Principle replaces the
Assimilative Capacity Principle: A basic
shift in the approach to environmental
protection occurred initially between 1972
and 1982. Earlier the Concept was based
on the `assimilative capacity' rule as
revealed from Principle 6 of the Stockholm
Declaration of the U.N.Conference on
Human Environment, 1972. The said
principle assumed that science could
provide policy-makers- with the
information and means necessary to avoid
encroaching upon the capacity of the
environment to assimilate impacts and it
presumed that relevant technical expertise
would be available when environmental
harm was predicted and there would be
sufficient time to act in order to avoid such
