New Delhi

India's Supreme Court has made the 'right against adverse effects of climate change' a part of the right to life, in an unprecedented leap forward to recognise the impact of climate change on human life in the world's most populous democracy. 

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While the Supreme Court bench presided by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and composed of Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra gave the ruling on March 21, the detailed order was only uploaded over the weekend. The top court was hearing a petition to protect the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) from losing its habitat due to power transmission lines.

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"Article 48A of the Constitution provides that the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country. Clause (g) of Article 51A stipulates that it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures. Although these are not justiciable provisions of the Constitution, they are indications that the Constitution recognises the importance of the natural world,” a three-judge bench presided by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said. 

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"The importance of the environment, as indicated by these provisions, becomes a right in other parts of the Constitution. Article 21 recognises the right to life and personal liberty while Article 14 indicates that all persons shall have equality before law and the equal protection of laws. These Articles are important sources of the right to a clean environment and the right against the adverse effects of climate change," it said.

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"Despite governmental policy and rules and regulations recognising the adverse effects of climate change and seeking to combat it, there is no single or umbrella legislation in India which relates to climate change and the attendant concerns,” the court noted. “However, this does not mean that the people of India do not have a right against the adverse effects of climate change," it added.

On the right of citizenry to a clean environment, the court said: "Without a clean environment which is stable and unimpacted by the vagaries of climate change, the right to life is not fully realised. The right to health (which is a part of the right to life under Article 21) is impacted due to factors such as air pollution, shifts in vector-borne diseases, rising temperatures, droughts, shortages in food supplies due to crop failure, storms and flooding. The inability of underserved communities to adapt to climate change or cope with its effects violates the right to life (Article 21) as well as the right to equality (Article 14)."

Bid to save Great Indian Bustard's habitat: What is the matter?

On April 19, 2021, a Supreme Court bench ordered restrictions on the setting-up of overhead transmission lines in an area of about 99,000 square kilometres.

The Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, Ministry of Power, and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy later sought modification in the top court's directions. 

It argued that given New Delhi's international commitments to transition to non-fossil fuels and reduction of emissions, building up the country’s solar and wind energy potential is important. It added that putting high-voltage power lines underground was technically not feasible.

The Supreme Court last week allowed the government's request while recognising technical and land acquisition challenges and prohibitive costs in implementing its April 2021 order. 

The court set up a nine-member committee of experts to "assess the feasibility of undergrounding power lines in specific areas, considering factors such as terrain, population density and infrastructure requirements". It also asked the committee "to complete its task and submit a report to this court through the Union Government on or before July 31, 2024".