B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 10 Environmental Law 2013 Dec Question Paper with Solutions

For full marks, cover: Part I, the ecosystem in brief: meaning, the CBD Article 2 definition, its living and non-living parts, how it works, and why forests and wildlife are its keystones; Part II, the ancient Indian sources (the Vedas, the Dharmashastra, Kautilya's Arthashastra, Ashoka's edicts, sacred groves) and the eight policy insights they give on forest and wildlife conservation, each matched to its modern counterpart: State stewardship with an officer, forests zoned by use, sanctuaries where killing is barred, protected species, graded penalties, limits on harmful practices, sustained yield, and community conservation; the courts' use of this heritage (K.M. Chinnappa, Nagaraja, Rural Litigation); its limits (royal revenue, no rights against the ruler); a table; and a conclusion.

Why forests and wildlife matter most. A forest is the richest land ecosystem. It holds soil, feeds springs and rivers, stores carbon and shelters most land species. Wild animals keep the forest working: they pollinate, scatter seeds and control pests. So a policy to conserve forests and wildlife is a policy to conserve the ecosystem itself. That is the lens through which the ancient law is best read.

Part II: what the ancient Indian law teaches

The sources.

1. The Vedas revere the earth, waters, plants and forests. The Atharva Veda's Prithvi Sukta treats the earth as mother, owed care, not ownership.
2. The Dharmashastra, such as the Manusmriti, made injury to plants and trees a wrong with a penalty.
3. Kautilya's Arthashastra, the Mauryan manual of statecraft, built a full administration for forests, animals and water.
4. Ashoka's edicts, especially the fifth Pillar Edict of the third century B.C., published rules protecting named animals and forests.
5. Sacred groves, kept by village communities, such as the devarakadu of Karnataka.

4. Protecting named species. Kautilya protected certain animals absolutely and made elephants a State monopoly, with their own forest, the hastivana. Ashoka's fifth Pillar Edict listed animals, birds and fish not to be killed. Modern counterpart: the Schedules of the Wild Life Act, and Project Elephant's elephant reserves.

5. Penalties graded by harm. Manu punished injury to plants. Kautilya graded the fine by the part of the tree harmed and by the kind of tree. Cutting a branch cost less than felling the trunk, and harming a fruit, shade or sacred tree cost more. Modern counterpart: graded offences such as section 26 of the 1927 Act. Section 51 of the Wild Life Act sets higher penalties for Schedule I animals.

6. Controlling harmful practices, not only species. Ashoka forbade burning forests "without reason", forbade burning chaff that contained living creatures, and restricted the branding and castration of animals on certain days. Modern counterpart: the fire offences in reserved forests (section 26 of the 1927 Act). There is also the general ban on hunting (section 9 of the Wild Life Act).

Animal Welfare Board of India v. A. Nagaraja, (2014) 7 SCC 547. Jallikattu was challenged as cruelty to bulls. The Court drew on the Isha Upanishad's teaching that no creature is superior to another. It held that the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act gives animals rights, read with Article 51A(g).

Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra v. State of Uttar Pradesh, AIR 1985 SC 652. The Court closed harmful limestone quarries in the Doon Valley to save its forests and springs. Natural resources must be used without destroying them, the same balance Kautilya struck.

The limits of the ancient law

1. Its motive was revenue and royal power. Forests were protected as the king's assets, and elephants because they were military equipment.
2. There were no rights against the ruler. A subject could not sue the king to protect a forest.
3. Practice fell short of precept. Reverence did not prevent clearing and hunting.

Even so, the ancient law shows that India had environmental administration, with officers, zones, protected species and graded fines, long before the modern Acts.

At a glance

Conclusion. An ecosystem is "a dynamic complex" of living communities and their environment "interacting as a functional unit", and forests and wildlife are its keystones. Ancient Indian law, through the Vedas, Manu, Kautilya's Arthashastra, Ashoka's edicts and sacred groves, gives eight lessons. They are a State officer, zoned forests, sanctuaries, protected species, graded penalties, limits on harmful practices, sustained yield and community care. Each has a modern counterpart, and the Supreme Court draws on them (Chinnappa, Nagaraja). Their limit is that they served the king's revenue and gave no rights against him.