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B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 10 Environmental Law 2022 Apr Question Paper with Solutions - KSLU

KSLU Solved Question Papers

Environmental Law

Previous Year Question Paper with Solution

B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 10

2022 Apr Examination

munotes.in

Mumbai

First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.

Published by munotes.in, Mumbai.

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Duration 3 hours · Total marks 100 · 13 questions answered

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Read the original question paper

Q1Discuss the environmental protection during the post Independence era.[16]

Answer

For full marks, cover: the post-independence story in five phases, each with its laws, institutions and turning points: (1) 1947 to 1972, development first; (2) 1972 to 1984, the Stockholm response (Water Act, 42nd Amendment, Department of Environment, Forest Act, Air Act; Chipko and Silent Valley); (3) 1984 to 1992, Bhopal and the umbrella law (EPA, Ministry, Factories Act amendment, Forest Policy 1988, PLI Act); (4) the judicial phase from the 1980s (PIL, Article 21, absolute liability, the Rio principles); (5) 1992 to today (EIA, Biodiversity Act, Forest Rights Act, NAPCC, NGT, the 2022 and 2023 amendments, decriminalisation, the climate right); the cases (Oleum, Rural Litigation, Vellore, Godavarman, Ranjitsinh, Vanashakti 2026); a table; and an assessment.

Phase 1: 1947 to 1972, development first

At independence the priority was food, industry and employment. The Constitution of 1950 contained no environmental provision. Only Article 47, on public health and nutrition, and the State's power over local government touched the subject. The Five Year Plans built dams, steel plants and fertiliser factories.

The National Forest Policy of 1952 kept the colonial aim of production, though it set a target of one-third of the land under forest.
The Factories Act 1948 dealt with conditions inside factories, not pollution outside them.
The Insecticides Act 1968 regulated pesticides.
The Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972, passed under Article 252, was the first major conservation law.

Pollution was left to the old law of nuisance and the Indian Penal Code.

Phase 2: 1972 to 1984, the Stockholm response

The Stockholm Conference of June 1972 changed the climate. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi told it that poverty and need are the greatest polluters. A National Committee on Environmental Planning and Coordination was set up the same year. Then came:

the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974, India's first pollution law, passed under Article 252 and creating the Pollution Control Boards;
the Forty-second Amendment 1976, which added Article 48A (the State's duty) and Article 51A(g) (the citizen's duty). It also moved forests and wild life to the Concurrent List;

the Tiwari Committee of 1980, which led to a Department of Environment in 1980;
the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, requiring central approval to use forest land for other purposes; and
the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981, passed under Article 253 to implement Stockholm.

Citizens moved too. In 1973 the Chipko movement saw village women in the Himalaya hug trees to stop felling. A campaign sought to save the Silent Valley forest in Kerala from a dam. The project was dropped, and the area became a national park in 1984.

Phase 3: 1984 to 1992, Bhopal and the umbrella law

The Bhopal gas leak of December 1984 killed thousands and showed that the law could not handle hazardous industry.

The Department became the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1985.
The Environment (Protection) Act 1986, passed under Article 253, gave the Centre wide powers to set standards, restrict industry, close polluters and make rules.
The Factories (Amendment) Act 1987 added a chapter on hazardous processes.

The National Forest Policy 1988 made ecological balance, not revenue, the main aim of forest management.
The Public Liability Insurance Act 1991 required hazardous industries to insure, so that victims get immediate relief without proving fault.
In 1992 came the National Conservation Strategy and Policy Statement on Environment and Development, and the Policy Statement for Abatement of Pollution.

Phase 4: the courts take the lead (from the 1980s)

From the 1980s the Supreme Court and the High Courts became the main drivers. They relaxed standing through public interest litigation and read a right to a healthy environment into Article 21.

Municipal Council, Ratlam v. Vardhichand, AIR 1980 SC 1622. Residents complained of open drains and effluent from an alcohol plant in their streets. The Court upheld a Magistrate's order under section 133 of the old Criminal Procedure Code directing the municipality to build drains. Lack of funds, it said, is no excuse for failing in a duty to public health.

Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra v. State of Uttar Pradesh, AIR 1985 SC 652. A letter complained that limestone quarrying was ruining the Doon Valley. The Court treated it as a writ petition and closed the most harmful quarries. The lessees' hardship, it said, was the price of the people's right to a healthy environment.

M.C. Mehta v. Union of India, AIR 1987 SC 1086 (the Oleum Gas Leak case). Oleum gas leaked from a Shriram plant in Delhi. The Court laid down absolute liability for hazardous industries, with no exceptions, and compensation measured by the size of the enterprise.

M.C. Mehta v. Union of India, AIR 1988 SC 1037 (the Ganga Pollution, Kanpur Tanneries case). Tanneries near Kanpur poured untreated effluent into the Ganga. The Court ordered those without treatment plants to close, whatever their finances.

Vellore Citizens' Welfare Forum v. Union of India, AIR 1996 SC 2715. Tanneries were polluting the Palar river. The Court held that sustainable development, the precautionary principle and the polluter pays principle are part of Indian law.

T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India, AIR 1997 SC 1228. The Court gave "forest" its dictionary meaning, whoever owns the land, and then supervised forest matters across India for decades.

Phase 5: 1992 to today, consolidation and reform

The first EIA Notification of 1994, replaced by the EIA Notification 2006, required prior clearance for listed projects. CRZ Notifications protected the coast from 1991.
The Biological Diversity Act 2002 gave effect to the Biodiversity Convention.
The National Environment Policy 2006 and the Forest Rights Act 2006, which recognised the rights of forest dwellers.
The National Action Plan on Climate Change of 2008.
The National Green Tribunal Act 2010, which created a specialist court bound by section 20 to apply the Rio principles.
The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act 2016 and new rules on waste in 2016.
The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act 2022, and the 2023 amendment renaming the forest law the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam.
The Jan Vishwas Act 2023, which replaced most prison terms in the EPA and the Air Act with money penalties. The Water Amendment Act 2024 did the same for the States that adopt it.

The courts kept pace.

M.K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India, (2024) 5 SCC 597. The Great Indian Bustard was dying on power lines in Rajasthan and Gujarat. The Supreme Court recognised a right against the adverse effects of climate change under Articles 14 and 21.

Vanashakti v. Union of India (the judgment of 29 July 2026), 2026 INSC 761. The Court held that prior environmental clearance is mandatory. It allowed only narrow amnesties by valid notification, and quashed an open-ended office memorandum prospectively.

The phases at a glance

Phase	Driver	Key law	Weakness
1947 to 1972	development	Wild Life Act 1972	environment ignored
1972 to 1984	Stockholm	Water Act, 42nd Amendment, Air Act	Boards weak
1984 to 1992	Bhopal	EPA 1986, PLI Act 1991	power concentrated in the Centre

Phase	Driver	Key law	Weakness
From the 1980s	courts and PIL	Article 21, absolute liability, Rio principles	courts doing executive work
1992 to today	Rio and reform	EIA, NGT, climate right	decriminalisation, dilution

Assessment

In seventy-five years India built a full system of Acts, Boards, a Ministry, a specialist Tribunal and a constitutional right to a healthy environment. Its laws are strong on paper. The persistent weakness is enforcement: Boards lack staff, clearances are sometimes diluted, and the courts have often had to step in. Recent reforms ease business through decriminalisation; whether money penalties deter as well as prison is still to be seen.

Conclusion. After independence, environmental protection moved from neglect in the name of development to a full legal system. Stockholm 1972 produced the Water Act, the 42nd Amendment and the Air Act. Bhopal 1984 produced the EPA and the PLI Act. The courts then built the Article 21 right, absolute liability and the Rio principles (Rural Litigation, Oleum, Vellore, Godavarman). Since Rio came EIA, the Biodiversity and Forest Rights Acts, the Green Tribunal and the climate right in Ranjitsinh. Strong enforcement is the task still unfinished.

B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 10 Environmental Law 2022 Apr Question Paper with Solutions

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