“It shall be duty of every citizen of India to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievements.”
Hence, the 42nd Amendment to Indian Constitution and insertion of Article 48-A and 51-A (g) marked the beginning of Environmental jurisprudence in India.
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO LIVE IN A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT
The second major development in the field of environmental jurisprudence is Article 21 of the constitution. If someone questions that which is the most important article of the Indian constitution than the only answer for it will be Article 21, which says no person shall be deprived of life and liberty and is considered as the…show more content… In other words, a person cannot lead a healthy life without having a pollution free environment. It is therefore the duty of the state to provide the basic necessities to its citizen for living a life with human dignity, and in modern perspective basic necessity does not only includes food, clothing and shelter rather it also includes pollution free air and water . Any arbitrary act on the part of the state to deprive any person of his right to healthy environment would be against Article 21 of the constitution. The Supreme Court has accepted the doctrine of public trust which rests on the premise that certain natural resources like air, sea, waters are means for general use and cannot be restricted to private ownership . These resources are a gift of nature and the State, a trustee thereof, is duty bound to protect them. The State is the trustee, and general public the beneficiary, of such natural resources as sea, running waters, air, forests, ecologically fragile…show more content… Union of India , The callous attitude of the State and other authorities in relation to education and environment and the ambience of an unique institution, i.e. Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan established by Rabindranath Tagore was threatened by promoters interested in construction of residential and commercial complexes in the territorial area comprising Santiniketan . The Supreme Court intervened and directed that the constructional activities must be in consonance with the provisions of the West Bengal Town and Country (Planning and development) Act and Rules and Regulations framed there under as also other relevant Acts, report and directions of W.B. Pollution Control Board and object, purpose, ideals and tradition for which Visva Bharati was established under the Visva Bharati Act. The Court emphasized that Visva Bharati is an institution of national importance, having its unique features and it is the duty of the Sate and the Development Authority not to allow activities within the territorial limits which may damage environmental ambience of the area contrary to the ideals of Visva