“Access to justice” signifies a person’s freedom, even his right, to approach a court of law to seek relief from injustice that has been, is being or might be caused to him. It has some fundamental elements like awareness, identification and recognition of grievances, availing legal assistance, adjudication of grievance, enforcement of relief, etc. Sustainable development is a fundamental part of fundamental rights conferred on citizens by the Constitution and cannot be allowed to be weighed down by environmental degradation. In the Indian context, securing justice to the citizens has been kept as the supreme priority. Indian Constitution, the lengthiest in the world, has, at its very heart, the concept of Welfare State. And this concept of Welfare State is so intricately intertwined with ‘Access to Justice’ that it is hard to imagine one without the other. Environmental degradation and climate change are amongst the most critical challenges confronting the human civilization. The protection and preservation of environment is essential for the survival of humanity and our planet. This has to be collective effort of all stakeholders, at the global and local levels. Access to justice is and has been recognized as a part and parcel of right to life in India and in all civilized societies around the globe. The right is so basic and inalienable that no system of governance can possibly ignore its significance, leave alone afford to deny the same to its citizens. The Magna Carta, the Universal Declaration of Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, the ancient Roman Jurisprudential maxim of ubi jus ibi remedium, and the development of fundamental principles of common law by judicial pronouncements of the courts over centuries past have all contributed to the acceptance of access to justice as a basic and inalienable human right which all civilized societies and systems recognize and enforce.
The word “life” appearing in Article 21 of the Constitution on a broad spectrum of rights is considered incidental and/or integral to the right to life, hence there is no real reason why access to justice should be considered to be falling outside the class and category of the said rights, which already stands recognized as being a part and parcel of the Article 21 of the Constitution of India. If “life” implies not only life in the physical sense but a bundle of rights that makes life worth living, there is no juristic or other basis for holding that denial of “access to justice” will not affect the quality of human life so as to take access to justice out of the purview of right to life guaranteed under Article 21. There is no hesitation in holding that access to justice is indeed a facet of right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. It is a need to add that access to justice may as well be the facet of the right guaranteed under Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before law and equal protection of laws to not only citizens but non-citizens also. The Executive can enforce the constitutional provisions of equality before law and equal protection of all laws without any limit. Article 14 of Indian Constitution is not an absolute right. It is as much available in relation to proceedings before courts and tribunal and adjudicatory fora where law is applied and justice administered. The citizen’s inability to access courts or any other adjudicatory mechanism provided for determination of rights and obligations is bound to result in denial of the guarantee contained in Article 14 both in relation to equality before law as well as equal protection of laws. Absence of any adjudicatory mechanism or the inadequacy of such mechanism, needless to say, is bound to prevent those looking for enforcement of their right to equality before laws and equal protection of the laws from seeking redress and thereby negate the guarantee of equality before laws or equal protection of laws and reduce it to a mere teasing illusion. Article 21 of the Constitution apart, access to justice can be said to be part of the guarantee contained in Article 14 as well. In Samaj Parivartana Samudaya & Ors. vs. State of Karnataka & Ors,1 the Apex Court held that inter-generational equity and sustainable development have come to be firmly embedded in our constitutional jurisprudence as an integral part of the fundamental rights conferred by Article 21 (Right to Life) of the Constitution. In enforcing such rights of a large number of citizens who are bound to be adversely affected by environmental degradation cannot be constrained by the restraints of procedure.
Environmental protection requires a legal language which is capable of incorporating technical specifications while balancing socioeconomic rights as well as protecting biodiversity. It is now a well-settled law that the people have a fundamental right to clean air and pure water. Indian judiciary is striving hard to hold at bay the demons of environmental degradation from swallowing its citizenry. As a trustee of natural resources, it is our duty to conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all.
The relationship between mankind and the environment has mostly been one of conquest rather than symbiosis. Analysis of the environmental disasters is a clear indicator that in the interest of humanity, humans must learn to adapt to the environment. Climate change, global warming and natural disasters are a wake-up call to humanity that they should stop polluting the earth and the need of the hour is to serve a symbiotic relationship with the environment through sensitive and researched environmental management, adaptation, mitigation and risk reduction.
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