During an event on clean air and sustainability hosted by the Supreme Court Bar Association on Wednesday, former Supreme Court judge Justice Abhay S. Oka lamented that in India today, those who take up environmental causes, whether activists or judges, often find themselves attacked, not applauded.
“Unfortunately, these activists who do this pro bono work. They take so much effort. They take so much risk by taking the environmental issues to the Court. They’re ridiculed by the political class. They’re targeted by religious groups. This is the most unfortunate situation,” Justice Oka said.
“In fact, with some sense of responsibility, I’ll say this, that even the judges who have passed strong orders on environmental matters are being targeted. There are examples of that (sic).”
Justice Oka observed that few citizens muster the “enthusiasm and courage” to approach courts on environmental issues largely because they lack social support and are often branded “anti-development.”
“In fact, our experience has been that those who take up environmental issues to the court are branded as anti-development and somebody who wants to obstruct developmental activities,” he added.
Without naming any recent case, Justice Oka also made a veiled reference to the Supreme Court’s recent relaxation on firecrackers, remarking that “bursting firecrackers is not confined to a particular religion but prevalent among people from all sections of the society.”
Then, he asked pointedly: “Can anyone say that bursting of firecrackers is an essential part of any religion which is protected?”
Recounting his flight from Mumbai earlier in the day, Justice Oka described, “Today I landed in Delhi from Mumbai. I could see the cloud of pollution over Delhi from the top… Bombay is not far behind, but Bombay had advantage of sea breeze, which protects the city.”
The former judge urged courts to resist public or religious pressures while deciding on environmental cases. “When the courts deal with environmental matters, they should not be influenced by popular or religious sentiments... At least the judges should not get influenced by popular or religious sentiments if they want to truly uphold the fundamental rights and fundamental duties,” he said.
