EL 401 | Environmental Law

This is a core subject which is mandatorily to be taught for the undergraduate programme. It logically extends from the Natural Resource Management Course (Land Laws) taught in the second year of the B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) programme.

Since environmental law owes its roots to a number of legal discourse besides disciplines outside law, the course aims to ensure that a transdisciplinary approach is followed. This would enable the students to gain much needed insight as regards the context and rationale for the making of this area of law & its working.

Since the basics of natural resource management got covered in the second year, the Course on hand takes off from the fundamental norms of environmental governance. The focus is primarily on Indian Policy and Law. However, international inspirations and bases would also find appropriate place in the enquiry. Against the backdrop of the environmental crisis and an international assessment of India’s environmental performance, the course unfolds with the basic theories of environmental management. This is followed by an analysis of the fundamental principles of environmental governance. The rest of the course is about an enquiry into the extent of accommodation and internalization of the theories and principles in the legal order. The issues covered include, the  Browner aspects like: pollution control, waste management, impact assessment etc., and Greener aspects like forest, wildlife, bio-diversity etc. In addition, there would be reflections on management of eco-sensitive zones and coastal area management. Environmental justice and its dispensation at various levels would permeate the entire discourse. This would be to equip the students with both the theoretical and practical skills and tools that are required for this specialized area of law and practice. For this purpose, a module on Climate Law and Litigation, is included in this edition of the Discourse.

Primary materials like policy documents, statutes etc. would be relied on, amply supported by critical and evaluatory studies supplied, from time to time, as part of the  reading material and case laws.

Since, the course is offered online, the approach is essentially to initiate reflections on various issues on a predetermined topic with the help of a few tools of presentation like PPT, short video clips etc. Towards the end of the lecture the students are encouraged to interact and participate in the discussions and efforts also will be made to identify some students, , having interest in or being assigned with specific project topics, to initiate discussions or  make strategic interventions.