Power of the PIL:Uttarakhand HC takes one step further in its bid to protect the Ganga

After the positive response the Uttarakhand High Court received in passing an order declaring the Ganga and Yamuna as legal persons, it has now extended the same protection to the flora surrounding the rivers..The bench of Justices Rajiv Sharma and Alok Singh – the same judges that passed the aforementioned order – directed thus in an application filed to get “the Himalayas, Glaciers, Streams, Water Bodies etc.” recognised as juristic persons..The original petition was filed by advocate Lalit Miglani, who sought the court’s intervention in the protection of the Ganga. The same bench had earlier disposed of the petition last year, after passing as many as twenty-six directions..Justifying why it entertained the application after the petition was disposed of, the bench stated,.“In normal circumstances, we would not have permitted the petitioner to file an application after the disposal of petition but since the matter was kept alive on the principle of ‘continuous mandamus’ and for the compliance of the judgment, we have entertained this application in the larger public interest and to avoid further litigation….…It is settled law that the principles of pleadings are liberal in the public interest litigations and the technicalities should be eschewed.”.The bench went on to quote various literature and United Nations Conventions on environment protection and sustainable development, before directing that the land and water bodies surrounding the two rivers be treated as legal persons..“We, by invoking our parens patriae jurisdiction, declare the Glaciers including Gangotri & Yamunotri, rivers, streams, rivulets, lakes, air, meadows, dales, jungles, forests wetlands, grasslands, springs and waterfalls, legal entity/ legal person/juristic person/juridicial person/ moral person/artificial person having the status of a legal person, with all corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person, in order to preserve and conserve them. They are also accorded the rights akin to fundamental rights/ legal rights.”.The bench even went so far as to state that harming nature would be equivalent to harming a human being..“Rivers and Lakes have intrinsic right not to be polluted. Polluting and damaging the rivers, forests, lakes, water bodies, air and glaciers will be legally equivalent to harming, hurting and causing injury to person…Rivers are grasping for breath. We must recognize and bestow the Constitutional legal rights to the ‘Mother Earth’..…Any person causing any injury and harm, intentionally or unintentionally to the Himalyas, Glaciers, rivers, streams, rivulets, lakes, air, meadows, dales, jungles and forests is liable to be proceeded against under the common law, penal laws, environmental laws…”.The court also nominated the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand, the Director and the Legal Advisior of the NAMAMI Gange Project, the Advocate General of the state, the head of the Chandigarh Judicial Academy and Senior Advocate MC Mehta as persons in loco parentis, in charge of overseeing the welfare of the natural bodies..In the previous order dated December 2 last year, the court had directed the Centre to frame a national law for protecting the Ganga. The order states,.“The Court, though, cannot direct the Legislature to frame the laws, but since, there is an emergency to protect the river Ganga from extinction, the Court can, at least, make a suggestion to the Union of India to make national law to protect river Ganga.”.It had also directed the Centre to establish the inter-State Council under Article 263 of the Constitution. Further, it directed that industries, hotels, Ashrams and other establishments, which are discharging the sewerage in the rivers be sealed. The other directions were that no person shall litter/defecate/urinate, in open, within a radius of 500 meters on both sides of river Ganga, and that,.“people should not use soap, oil and shampoo while taking a bath in river Ganga. Bathing of cattle in river Ganga is also banned forthwith.”.Besides these, the court also took exception to the “disgusting site” of beggars in the area, and ordered that begging be prohibited in all the holy places in Uttarakhand. In the same order, the court also called for a total ban of sale, use and storage of plastic carry bags throughout the state..While members of the judiciary themselves have cautioned against the misuse of Public Interest Litigation, in this case, it seems that the High Court’s hand was forced in the face of inaction on the part of the government authorities. The bench’s intentions can be best summed by a box quote at the end of the December 2 order..Read the order dated March 30:.Read the order dated December 2, 2016: