Unit 4 of Environmental Laws (syllabus: Module IV — National Green Tribunal Act 2010; Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972; the bio-medical waste, hazardous waste, noise pollution, ozone-depleting substances and solid waste rules). Below: what the unit covers, the provisions it turns on, and the cases an examiner expects you to name.
What this unit covers
- When does the National Green Tribunal have jurisdiction?
- What relief can the Tribunal grant, and on what standard of liability?
- How is a failure to obey the Tribunal punished, and where does an appeal lie?
- What counts as hunting under the Wild Life (Protection) Act?
- How are protected areas created under the Wild Life Act, and how do they differ?
- What are the rules on loudspeakers and silence zones, and what is their constitutional basis?
- What duties do the waste rules place on the person who generates the waste?
Treat that list as a self-test: recite each topic's rule from memory before you open its cases.
Provisions
- National Green Tribunal Act 2010, s. 2(m), 14, 15, 16 and 29
- National Green Tribunal Act 2010, s. 15, 17, 19 and 20
- National Green Tribunal Act 2010, s. 22, 26 and 29
- Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972, s. 2(16), 9, 11, 12 and 51
- Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972, s. 17A, 18, 35, 37, 38 and 50
- Environment (Protection) Act 1986, s. 3 and 6, read with the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules 2000
- Environment (Protection) Act 1986, s. 3, 6, 8 and 25
Leading cases
- Techi Tagi Tara v Rajendra Singh Bhandari
- M.C. Mehta v Union of India (Oleum Gas Leak case)
- Sansar Chand v State of Rajasthan
- Forum for Prevention of Environment and Sound Pollution v Union of India
- Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v Union of India (Bichhri)