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B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 10 Environmental Law 2011 Jun Question Paper with Solutions

KSLU Solved Question Papers

Environmental Law

Previous Year Question Paper with Solution

B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 10

2011 Jun Examination

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Mumbai

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First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.

Published by munotes.in, Mumbai.

Model answers written and edited by the munotes.in editorial desk.

Passages from this volume may be quoted, in print, online or by an AI system, with credit: name munotes.in and link to this volume's page. The volume may not be reproduced as a whole. Full terms at munotes.in/content-license.

munotes.in is an independent study resource for students of Karnataka State Law University. It is not affiliated with Karnataka State Law University, and is not endorsed by it.

The University does not publish an official answer key for this paper. The answers in this volume are model answers, written to show how a full-mark answer is built. They are a study aid, not an authority on what an examiner marked.

The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2011 Jun examination.

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Contents

The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2011 Jun examination, in the order it was set.

MarksPage

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MarksPage

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The Paper as Set

The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2011 Jun examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.

Duration 3 hours  ·  Total marks 100  ·  20 questions answered

Instructions printed on the paper

  • N.B. (1) Answer all 5 Questions. (2) One essay type and one short note question or problem from each Unit have to be attempted, which is referred as Part (a) and (b) in all the Units. (3) Figures to the right indicate marks. (4) Answers should be written either in English or Kannada completely.

How to use this volume

Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.

Read the original question paper

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Q1

Unit I

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(a)Define "Environment" and explain the importance of protection of Environment.[15]

Answer

For full marks, cover: Part I, the definition: environment in its physical, biological, social and legal senses; the statutory definition in EPA s.2(a) (and NGT Act s.2(1)(c)) and what it stresses; the constitutional and judicial view (Article 51A(g); Virendra Gaur); Part II, the importance of protecting it, at five levels: the individual (life and health), the community (livelihoods and commons), the nation (economy, water, food and security), the planet (climate, oceans, biodiversity) and the future and nature itself (intergenerational equity, the value of other life); the cost of failing to protect it, shown by Indian events and cases (Bhopal, the Ganga at Kanpur, the Doon Valley, Bichhri, Delhi's air); how the law recognises the importance (Articles 21, 48A, 51A(g); the Acts; Subhash Kumar, Ranjitsinh); and a conclusion.

Part I: what "environment" means

Four senses.

  1. Physical: the air, water, land and climate around us.
  2. Biological: the plants, animals and micro-organisms that share those surroundings, and the food webs that link them.
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  1. Social: the built and cultural surroundings people create, such as towns, farms, monuments and ways of life.
  2. Legal: what the law chooses to protect under that name.

The statutory definition. Section 2(a) of the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 provides that "environment" includes "water, air and land and the inter-relationship which exists among and between water, air and land, and human beings, other living creatures, plants, micro-organism and property". The National Green Tribunal Act 2010 repeats it in section 2(1)(c). Three features stand out. It is inclusive, so it can grow. It covers living beings other than people, and even property. And it protects the inter-relationships, recognising that harm to one part travels to the others.

The Constitution and the courts. Article 51A(g) speaks of "the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life". In Virendra Gaur v. State of Haryana, (1995) 2 SCC 577, the Supreme Court said that the word environment is of broad spectrum. It brings within its ambit a hygienic atmosphere and ecological balance.

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Part II: why protecting it matters

Level 1: the individual. Every person needs clean air to breathe, safe water to drink and uncontaminated food. Pollution brings disease and early death. In Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar, AIR 1991 SC 420, the Supreme Court held that the right to life includes the right to enjoy pollution-free water and air.

Level 2: the community. Millions of Indians live directly off nature. Farmers depend on soil and water, fishermen on rivers and the sea, forest dwellers on forest produce, and herders on common grazing land. When a river is fouled or a forest cleared, their livelihood goes with it, and they are often forced to migrate to crowded cities. Village ponds, groves and pastures, held in common, are often the poor's only resource, and the courts have protected them (Hinch Lal Tiwari).

Level 3: the nation. Agriculture, fisheries, forestry and tourism depend on healthy ecosystems. Rivers and ground water supply cities and farms. Degradation imposes heavy costs in health care, lost crops, floods and droughts. Polluted cities lose working days, and damaged monuments and beaches lose visitors. Over time, a country that exhausts its soil, water and forests weakens its own food and water security.

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Level 4: the planet. Some harm crosses every border. Greenhouse gases warm the whole Earth, ozone-depleting chemicals thin a shield that protects all, and plastics and effluent foul the shared oceans. The loss of species is permanent and global. No country can protect itself alone. That is why India has joined the climate, ozone and biodiversity treaties, and why Article 51(c) asks the State to respect international obligations.

Level 5: the future and nature itself. The present generation holds the Earth in trust. In State of Himachal Pradesh v. Ganesh Wood Products, AIR 1996 SC 149, the Supreme Court held that the present generation has no right to use up the forests and leave nothing for the future. Beyond human interests, Article 51A(g) asks citizens to "have compassion for living creatures". In Animal Welfare Board of India v. A. Nagaraja, (2014) 7 SCC 547, the Court read animal welfare law in that ecocentric spirit.

The cost of failing to protect it

Indian experience shows what neglect costs.

  1. Bhopal, December 1984. Methyl isocyanate leaked from a pesticide plant and killed thousands. The disaster led directly to the Environment (Protection) Act 1986.
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  1. The Ganga at Kanpur. Tanneries discharged untreated effluent into the river. In M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (the Kanpur tanneries case), AIR 1988 SC 1037, the Court closed tanneries without treatment plants.
  2. The Doon Valley. Limestone quarrying caused landslides and harmed water sources. In Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra v. State of Uttar Pradesh, AIR 1985 SC 652, the harmful quarries were closed.
  3. Bichhri. Toxic sludge from chemical units poisoned wells and farmland. In Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v. Union of India, AIR 1996 SC 1446, the polluters were made to pay for restoration.
  4. Delhi's air. Vehicle exhaust caused about seventy per cent of the city's air pollution. In the vehicular pollution order of 28 July 1998, AIR 1998 SC 2963, the Court set deadlines for clean fuel.

Each crisis cost lives, money and years of litigation that protection could have avoided. Prevention is cheaper than cure. It is also fairer. The people who suffer most from pollution are usually the poor, who did least to cause it and can least afford to escape it.

What protection involves

Protecting the environment is not one act but several, working together.

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  1. Prevention: stopping harm before it happens, through standards, consents and assessment of projects before they are cleared.
  2. Regulation: controlling what is discharged, emitted or handled, and how land and resources are used.
  3. Restoration: repairing damage already done, such as cleaning rivers, reclaiming mined land and replanting forests, at the polluter's cost.
  4. Conservation: protecting forests, wetlands, coasts and species, through protected areas and limits on use.
  5. Participation: informing people and letting them take part in decisions, so that protection has public support.
  6. Responsibility: making every person, firm and government agency answer for its share of the harm.

How the law recognises its importance

  1. The Constitution. Article 48A directs the State to protect and improve the environment. Article 51A(g) makes it a duty of every citizen, and the courts read a right to a healthy environment into Article 21.
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  1. The statutes. The Water Act 1974 and the Air Act 1981 control pollution. The Wild Life Act 1972 and the Forest Conservation Act 1980 (now the Van Adhiniyam) protect wildlife and forests. The Environment (Protection) Act 1986 is the umbrella law.
  2. The courts. Beyond the cases above, M.K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India, (2024) 5 SCC 597, recognised a right against the adverse effects of climate change under Articles 14 and 21.

Conclusion. Environment means the physical, biological and social surroundings of life. Section 2(a) of the EPA defines it as water, air, land, living things and property and the inter-relationships among them. The courts read it broadly (Virendra Gaur). Its protection matters for individuals' life and health, communities' livelihoods and the nation's economy and security. It matters too for the shared planet, and for future generations and other life (Ganesh Wood Products, Nagaraja). Bhopal, Kanpur, the Doon Valley, Bichhri and Delhi show the price of neglect. The Constitution, the statutes and the courts (Subhash Kumar, Ranjitsinh) now treat that protection as a matter of right and duty.

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