This lament on the lack of expenditure on afforestation drew a sharp retort from Union Minister for Human Resources and Development Prakash Javadekar, who was speaking at the valedictory function of the National Green Tribunal's (NGT) International Conference on Environment.
Judicial activism in environmental matters has come about because of a dearth of legislation and shoddy implementation of existing laws, Justice Madan Lokur of the Supreme Court (SC) said on Saturday. He said the SC has been literally pushed into environmental jurisprudence because of absence of legislation.
"The fact of the matter is that judicial activism has had to come about as there has been no option for the judiciary but to be active because of certain circumstances, absence of clear laws, absence of implementation, or shoddy implementation," Justice Lokur said.
Speaking in the context of sustainable development, the senior judge was critical of the government's policies on environmental protection, specifically the afforestation schemes. "Over the last several years, SC's green bench has been passing orders, as a result of which huge amounts, running into thousands of crores, have been collected by the government. Now where has that money gone? Certainly, it has not gone for the improvement of the environment, because over the last so many years, we have been seeing degradation of the environment," Justice Lokur said.
This lament on the lack of expenditure on afforestation drew a sharp retort from Union Minister for Human Resources and Development Prakash Javadekar, who was speaking at the valedictory function of the National Green Tribunal's (NGT) International Conference on Environment.
"India is the only country in the world that has taxed its coal at a rate of $6 or Rs 400 per tonne. It is a strong action.
And Lokurji, we have a good account of how we have collected that money and used it for renewable and climate-friendly action. So, it is not diverted anywhere. We have a robust plan. It is in the public domain," Javadekar said.
The minister was sharing the dais with Union Minister for Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal and Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court R Subhash Reddy.
Meanwhile, dwelling on the legislations, Justice Lokur said: "We have laws in India but as far as the environmental legislation is concerned, we don't have the kind of laws or the kind of statutes that one would expect while dealing with a large number of problems."
He added that a lot of it is subordinate legislation, which is carried out through notifications and rules, and thus there was a need for the Parliament to look into various environmental issues. "But, I think the courts alone cannot bear the burden. I think the governments must bear the burden and I think, as citizens of this country, all of us must learn from lessons in the past," Justice Lokur said.
Earlier, during his address, NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar opined that instead of seeking a monetary compensation for cutting trees and forests, planting of trees and afforestation should be a conditional precedent to felling of trees.
What Justice Lokur said
- ‘Judicial activism has come about because of absence of clear laws, implementation or shoddy implementation’
- ‘Govt collected thousands of crores of rupees as result of orders passed by SC’s green bench. Where’s that money?’
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 "Madan Lokur")
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