16 C. Courts and the environment

Public-interest litigation under Art. 46/133 has made courts central environmental actors. In Surya Prasad Sharma Dhungel et al. v. Godavari Marble Industries et al. (NKP 2052, p. 168; 1995) and a stream of later PIL decisions, the Supreme Court ordered closure/modification of polluting industries, required EIA compliance, and articulated the precautionary and polluter-pays ideas years before they were codified. The Court has also derived environmental duties from the right to life.