environment law in India with tort
Tort law in environmental regulations
Actions brought under tort law are amongst the oldest of the legal remedies to abate pollution. Most pollution cases in tort law fall under the categories of nuisance, negligence or strict liability.1 The rules of Tort law in India were introduced under British rule. Initially, disputes arising within the presidency towns of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay were subjected to common law rules.2 Later, Indian courts outside the presidency were required by Acts of the British Parliament and Indian Laws to reconcile disputes in accordance to justice, equity and good conscience where there was no applicable statute3. Consequently, in suits for damages for torts (civil wrongs), courts followed the English Common Law in so far as it was consonant with these principles4.
In Vellore Citizens Forum v. Union of India,5 the Supreme Court traced the source of the constitutional and statutory provisions that protect the environment to the ‘inalienable common law right’ of every person to a clean environment. Quoting from Blackstone’s Commentaries on the English la of nuisance published in 1876’ the court held that since the Indian legal system was founded on English common law, the right to a pollution-free environment was a part of the basic jurisprudence of the land.6
Damages and injunction
A plaintiff in a tort action may sue for damages or an injunction, or both. The damages so awarded for are pecuniary compensations payable for the commission of a tort. They may be ‘substantial’ as well as ‘exemplary.’ Substantial damages are provided to compensate the plaintiff for the wrong suffered. The purpose behind such damages is restitution i.e.to restore the plaintiff to the position he or she would have been had the tort not been committed. Such damages, therefore, correspond to fair and reasonable compensation for the injury. Exemplary damages, on the other hand, are intended to punish the defendant for the outrageous nature of his or her
Actions brought under tort law are amongst the oldest of the legal remedies to abate pollution. Most pollution cases in tort law fall under the categories of nuisance, negligence or strict liability.1 The rules of Tort law in India were introduced under British rule. Initially, disputes arising within the presidency towns of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay were subjected to common law rules.2 Later, Indian courts outside the presidency were required by Acts of the British Parliament and Indian Laws to reconcile disputes in accordance to justice, equity and good conscience where there was no applicable statute3. Consequently, in suits for damages for torts (civil wrongs), courts followed the English Common Law in so far as it was consonant with these principles4.
In Vellore Citizens Forum v. Union of India,5 the Supreme Court traced the source of the constitutional and statutory provisions that protect the environment to the ‘inalienable common law right’ of every person to a clean environment. Quoting from Blackstone’s Commentaries on the English la of nuisance published in 1876’ the court held that since the Indian legal system was founded on English common law, the right to a pollution-free environment was a part of the basic jurisprudence of the land.6
Damages and injunction
A plaintiff in a tort action may sue for damages or an injunction, or both. The damages so awarded for are pecuniary compensations payable for the commission of a tort. They may be ‘substantial’ as well as ‘exemplary.’ Substantial damages are provided to compensate the plaintiff for the wrong suffered. The purpose behind such damages is restitution i.e.to restore the plaintiff to the position he or she would have been had the tort not been committed. Such damages, therefore, correspond to fair and reasonable compensation for the injury. Exemplary damages, on the other hand, are intended to punish the defendant for the outrageous nature of his or her