Now Reading: Jairam Ramesh backs SC judge’s warning on bypassing green laws
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Jairam Ramesh backs SC judge’s warning on bypassing green laws
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday warned that India's progressive environmental laws have been consistently bypassed and urged the judiciary to enforce them in letter and spirit. He shared excerpts from an…
The Story in Brief
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday warned that India's progressive environmental laws have been consistently bypassed and urged the judiciary to enforce them in letter and spirit. He shared excerpts from an August 8 speech by Supreme Court judge Ujjal Bhuyan at Vivekananda Kendra in Guwahati, calling it a "timely and courageous warning."
In his speech, Justice Bhuyan questioned the court's approach to environmental challenges, saying it should not dismiss petitions at the threshold but instead ask whether a project has complied with environmental norms. He cautioned that closing the doors of constitutional courts to committed environmentalists would itself threaten the environment.
The Indian Opinion
Justice Bhuyan’s speech, endorsed by Jairam Ramesh, lays bare an uncomfortable pattern: India has strong environmental laws on paper, yet infrastructure projects routinely get cleared without proper scrutiny. The lazy narrative pits development against the environment as if they are irreconcilable. What the judge actually said is that courts should not shut the door on conscientious citizens at the threshold. The test to watch is whether the Supreme Court applies its own environmental norms consistently, or continues to treat compliance as optional for big projects.
Source: newindianexpress.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
