The Doctrine of Public Trust has its origin in the Roman law. It primarily rests on the principle that certain resources like air, sea, water and forests have such great importance to the people as a whole that it would be wholly unjustified to make them a subject of private ownership. They are gifts of nature and they should be made freely available to everyone irrespective of their status in life. The doctrine enjoins upon the Government to protect the resources for the enjoyment of the general public rather than to permit their use for private ownership or commercial purposes.

The Doctrine of Public Trust mandates affirmative state action for effective management of resources and empowers citizens to question ineffective management of natural resources. The state cannot transfer public trust properties to a private party, if the grant would interfere with the public interest.

The Stockholm Declaration of United Nations on Human Environment evidences this seminal proposition "the natural resources of the earth, including air, water, land, flora and fauna and especially, representative samples of the natural system must be safeguarded for the benefit of the present and future generations through careful planning or management, as appropriate".

In Illinois Central Railroad Company vs. Illinois, 46 US 387 (1892), the Doctrine of Public Trust is applied. In the said case, the legislature granted lands underlying Lake Michigan to a private company. A few years later, the legislature had second thoughts about the grant and repealed it. In an action brought by the state to have the original grant declared invalid, the Supreme Court of the US stated that the title to the lands given in grant were different in character from that which the state holds in lands…state that they may enjoy the navigation of the waters, carry on commerce over them, and have the liberty of fishing therein, freed from the obstruction or interferences of private parties. Though the court did not prohibit the disposition of trust lands to private parties, it stated that the state cannot divest itself of the authority to govern the whole area in which it has the responsibility to exercise its police power.

Law Review Journal, Doctrine of Public Trust, Natural Resources, Ecological Degradation, Social Development, Environmental Human Rights, Environmental Resources, Public Trust Resources, Indian Courts, Environmental Protection, Economic Development.