Passage-Based Test on Environmental Law for CLAT PG [Part 3]

The most potent threat faced by the Earth and human civilisation as a whole, which is confronted with today, is environmental degradation and wildlife degradation. The need to protect flora and fauna, which constitute a major portion of our ecosystem, is immediate. Development and urbanisation, coming at the cost of adversely affecting our natural surroundings, will in turn impact and be the cause of human devastation, as was seen in the 2013 floods in Uttarakhand and in 2018 in Kerala.

Climate change is impacting wildlife by disrupting the timing of natural events. With warmer temperatures, flowering plants are blooming earlier in the year, and migratory birds are returning from their wintering grounds earlier in the spring. Wildlife conservation in India has a long history, dating back to the colonial period when it was rather very restrictive to only 17 targeted species and that too in a defined geographical area. Then, the formation of the Wildlife Board at the national level and enactment of the Wildlife Act in 1972 laid the foundation of the present-day “wildlife conservation” era in post ­independent India. Project Tiger in the 1970s and the Project Elephant in 1992–both with flagship species–attracted global attention.

India then also became a member of all major international conservation treaties related to habitat, species and environment, like the Ramsar Convention, 1971; the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, 1973; the Convention on Migratory Species, 1979; the Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992, among others.

Humans as well as wildlife are completely dependent upon the environment for their survival. Humans are completely dependent on the environment. Like humans, wildlife is also dependent on the environment for its survival and is also affected by the environment. The relationship between the human and animal can be understood by the food­chain and food­web. The wildlife is affected by several reasons such as population, deforestation, urbanisation, high number of industries, chemical effluents, unplanned land­use policies, and reckless use of natural resources, etc.

The Directive Principles of State Policy provide that protection and improvement of the environment, safeguarding forests and wildlife, have been duly enjoined upon the Government. Those principles have found statutory expression in various enactments, i.e., Wildlife (Protection) Act, E.P. Act, etc., which have been enforced by this Court in various decisions. The inaction of the State to constitutional and statutory duties cannot be permitted. The Court has to issue appropriate directions to fulfil the mandate. Article 51(A) provides a fundamental duty to protect and preserve the environment, wildlife, etc.

a) Article 14
b) Article 19(1)(g)
c) Article 21
d) Article 32

a) Precautionary Principle
b) Inter-generational equity
c) Absolute liability
d) Public Trust Doctrine

a) Project Tiger’s introduction
b) Article 21 judicial intervention
c) Establishing a Wildlife Board and passing laws about wildlife
d) India’s involvement in international agreements

a) Supreme Court
b) Civil Court
c) High Courts
d) National Green Tribunal

a) Section 3
b) Section 5
c) Section 7
d) Section 10

a) Deforestation
b) Chemical effluents
c) Unplanned land use policies
d) Genetic modification of species

a) M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (Oleum Gas Leak case)
b) Vellore Citizens’ Welfare Forum v. Union of India
c) Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v. Union of India
d) Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar

a) Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra v. State of UP
b) M.C. Mehta v. Kamal Nath
c) Narmada Bachao Andolan v. Union of India
d) A.P. Pollution Control Board v. Prof. Nayudu

a) Environmental matters are purely judicial functions
b) Directive Principles and statutory mandates impose duties on the State
c) International treaties override domestic laws
d) Wildlife protection is a private contractual obligation

a) Water Act
b) Air Act
c) Forest Act
d) Environment (Protection) Act, 1986

a) Damage must be scientifically proven before action
b) Burden of proof lies on the affected community
c) Burden of proof lies on the developer/industry
d) The state has no preventive duty

a) Articles 14, 19, 21 only
b) Articles 21, 48A, 51A(g)
c) Articles 32, 226 only
d) Articles 300A and 368

a) Forest Survey of India
b) National Green Tribunal
c) Central Pollution Control Board
d) National Board for Wildlife

a) Wild animals only
b) Captive animals only
c) Both wild and captive animals
d) Endangered species only

a) State Government
b) Central Government
c) National Green Tribunal
d) District Magistrate