Environmental jurisprudence in India is at a tipping point today. While the Indian Judiciary and National Green Tribunal have contributed significantly to the development of environmental jurisprudence principles in India, the recent environmental judgments of both the Indian Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal are worrisome, and the outlook for the environmental jurisprudence in the coming decade is not positive. This inference is based on a detailed review of environmental judgments from 1980-2020. However, the protection and advancement of already developed environmental jurisprudence principles is still possible. But it requires a change of direction in the philosophy of environmental judgment (more importantly, philosophy of the bench: judges and experts) supplemented with institutional reforms and adequate human and financial assistance. These changes are urgently needed to face environmental and climate change challenges, minimise forest degradation, and ensure sustainable development with an emphasis on equity and social justice.
Geetanjoy Sahu is a Professor and Chairperson, Centre for Climate Change & Sustainability Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, where he has been teaching since 2009. He joined as a Post-Doctoral Associate at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Environment and Development (CISED), Bengaluru, upon receiving his PhD in Political Science from the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru. His broad areas of research and teaching include environmental jurisprudence, environmental regulation and policy, land and forest rights, and the political economy of public policy implementation. He is the author of the book "Environmental Jurisprudence and the Supreme Court: Litigation, Interpretation and Implementation" published by Orient BlackSwan in 2014.