polluter pays principle
The principle makes the polluter liable not only to compensate victims of pollution but also to pay the cost of restoring the damaged environment. In India it was accepted by the Supreme Court as part of the law of the land in Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum, read with Articles 21, 47, 48A and 51A(g), together with the precautionary principle, as part of sustainable development.
Liability under the principle is absolute: the polluter cannot escape by showing that he took reasonable care. The National Green Tribunal is directed by statute to apply it. Do not read it as a licence to pollute on payment; it is a rule of liability, not a fee.
Example
Applying the polluter pays principle, the Tribunal directed the tanneries to bear the cost of cleaning the contaminated groundwater.
In Indian law
- Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum v. Union of India, 1996 INSC 952: polluter pays and precautionary principles part of Indian environmental law
- s.20, National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 (Tribunal to apply sustainable development, precautionary and polluter pays principles)
- Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v. Union of India, 1996 INSC 237: the polluter pays principle applied (Bichhri)
See also
precautionary principle · sustainable development · absolute liability · public trust doctrine
Read more in the study notes
- Ancient and medieval writings, environmental jurisprudence and national environmental policy (Environmental Law)
- Environmental policy and law before and after independence (Environmental Law)
- Public interest litigation and the role of the judiciary in environmental protection (Environmental Law)
- Absolute liability, polluter pays and the precautionary principle (Environmental Law)
- Intergenerational equity and the public trust doctrine (Environmental Law)
- Sustainable development and the Stockholm, Rio and Johannesburg Declarations (Environmental Law)