KSLU Solved Question Papers
Environmental Law
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 10
2023 Mar Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 10 Environmental Law 2023 Mar Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2023 Mar examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2023 Mar examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2023 Mar 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 80 · 20 questions answered
Instructions printed on the paper
- N.B. (1) Answer all five Units. (2) One essay type question and short note/problem is compulsory from each Unit. (3) Figures to the right indicate marks. (4) Answer 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.
Q1
Unit I
(a)What are the factors responsible for environmental pollution and state the remedies.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: what environmental pollution is (EPA s.2(c)); the factors responsible, grouped and explained (population, poverty, urban growth, industry, farming, transport and energy, deforestation and mining, waste and consumer habits, weak enforcement and low awareness); the remedies in five groups (common law, criminal law, constitutional, statutory, and the National Green Tribunal), each with its leading case (Ram Baj Singh, Ratlam, Subhash Kumar, Bichhri); remedies outside the courts; and where the remedies fall short.
What environmental pollution is
Section 2(c) of the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 defines environmental pollution as "the presence in the environment of any environmental pollutant". Under section 2(b), an environmental pollutant is any solid, liquid or gaseous substance. It must be present in such concentration as may be, or tend to be, injurious to the environment. So pollution is a matter of quantity and harm, not merely the presence of a substance.
The factors responsible
1. Growth of population. More people need more food, water, fuel, housing and transport. Each need draws on land, forests and water, and each produces waste.
2. Poverty. The poor often have no choice but to cut fuelwood, overgraze common land or live beside open drains. Poverty causes degradation, and degradation deepens poverty.
3. Unplanned urban growth. Cities grow faster than their sewers, drains and dumping grounds. Untreated sewage reaches rivers, and garbage lies in the open.
4. Industrialisation. Factories release effluent into water, smoke into the air and sludge onto land. Hazardous industries add the risk of a leak, as at Bhopal in 1984.
5. Modern farming. Heavy use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides poisons soil and ground water. Burning crop stubble fouls the air over whole regions.
6. Transport and energy. Vehicles and coal-based power plants are major sources of smoke, sulphur dioxide and fine dust.
7. Deforestation and mining. Clearing forests and quarrying hillsides cause soil erosion, landslides and the drying of springs.
8. Waste and consumer habits. Plastic, electronic waste and bio-medical waste grow with a throwaway lifestyle.
9. Weak enforcement and low awareness. Good laws exist, but Boards are short of staff and money. Many people do not know their rights or their duties.
Remedies under the common law (tort)
A person harmed by pollution may sue in nuisance, negligence or trespass. Where the activity is hazardous, strict liability (Rylands v. Fletcher) or the Indian rule of absolute liability applies. The court may grant damages or an injunction stopping the activity.
Dr. Ram Baj Singh v. Babulal, AIR 1982 All 285. A neighbour set up a brick-grinding machine about forty feet from a doctor's consulting chamber. Its dust left a red coat on the clothes of people sitting there. The lower courts dismissed the doctor's suit for want of special damage. The Allahabad High Court granted a permanent injunction. It held that the visible dust was substantial and special damage, and that actual injury to health need not first be proved.
Remedies under the criminal law
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 punishes public nuisance (section 270), fouling a public spring or reservoir (section 279) and making the air noxious (section 280). More useful is the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023, sections 152 to 163 (old Cr.P.C. sections 133 to 144). A Magistrate may order a nuisance removed or a trade stopped.
Municipal Council, Ratlam v. Vardhichand, AIR 1980 SC 1622. Residents complained of open drains, no public toilets and effluent from an alcohol plant flowing into the street. The Magistrate ordered the municipality to build drains within six months, and it pleaded lack of funds. The Supreme Court upheld the order. A municipality cannot run away from its duty to public health by pleading financial inability.
Constitutional remedies
A person may file a writ petition under Article 32 in the Supreme Court or Article 226 in a High Court. Public interest litigation lets any public-spirited person or group sue for those who cannot.
Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar, AIR 1991 SC 420. The petitioner alleged that collieries were polluting the Bokaro river with slurry. The Court held that Article 21 includes the right to enjoy pollution-free water and air. A citizen may use Article 32 to remove pollution that impairs life. But it dismissed this petition, because the petitioner was pursuing a private grudge over buying slurry.
Statutory remedies
- Consent and directions. No industry may discharge effluent or emit pollutants without the State Board's consent (Water Act sections 25 and 26; Air Act section 21). The Boards may order closure or cut off water and power (Water Act section 33A; Air Act section 31A).
- Directions of the Central Government. Section 5 of the EPA allows directions to close, prohibit or regulate any industry or process.
- Court orders on a Board's application. A Board may ask a Magistrate to restrain apprehended pollution (Water Act section 33; Air Act section 22A).
- Citizen's complaint. Any person may complain to a court after giving sixty days' notice (EPA section 19; Water Act section 49; Air Act section 43).
- No-fault relief. The Public Liability Insurance Act 1991 gives immediate relief to victims of accidents with hazardous substances.
The National Green Tribunal
Under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010, the Tribunal decides civil cases raising a substantial question of environment (section 14). It may order relief, compensation and restoration of the environment (section 15). It must apply sustainable development, the precautionary principle and the polluter pays principle (section 20).
Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v. Union of India, AIR 1996 SC 1446 (the Bichhri case). Chemical units at Bichhri village in Rajasthan made H acid and left toxic sludge that ruined wells and fields. The Supreme Court held them absolutely liable and applied the polluter pays principle. They had to pay both compensation to the villagers and the cost of restoring the soil and water.
Remedies outside the courts
Cleaner technology, effluent treatment plants and public transport on clean fuel reduce pollution at its source. Afforestation, waste segregation and recycling, and family welfare and poverty programmes address the deeper factors. Environmental education under Article 51A(g) creates the awareness on which every law depends.
Where the remedies fall short
- Tort suits are slow and costly for poor victims.
- Criminal fines are small, and Magistrates seldom act on their own.
- Boards lack staff, and closure orders are often stayed.
- Courts can direct, but they cannot run a city's drains.
Conclusion. Pollution springs from population, poverty, cities, industry, farming, transport, deforestation, waste and weak enforcement. The remedies are tort suits for injunction and damages (Ram Baj Singh) and the Magistrate's power to abate nuisances (Ratlam). There are also writs and PIL under Articles 32 and 226 (Subhash Kumar), and the consent and direction powers of the Boards and the Centre. The Green Tribunal applies the polluter pays principle (Bichhri). The law has enough remedies; the real need is steady enforcement and public awareness.
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