Mitali Palnitkar
Published On: January 21, 2022 at 18:13 IST
On January 21, 2022, a notice was issued to the Central Government by the Supreme Court on a Plea seeking establishment of ‘Indian Environment Service’ in light of the environmental issues being faced by several parts of the country.
The response was sought from the Environment Ministry by the Bench of Justices MM Sundresh and SK Kaul. However, the Bench had a Prima facie doubt as to how a Writ of Mandamus could be issued on the Plea.
The Petitioner, Samar Vijay Singh was represented by Senior Advocate K Sultan Singh.
Singh had relied on the report submitted by High-Level Committee constituted by Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC). The Committee was chaired by TSR Subramanian, former Cabinet Secretary in 2014. The Committee had recommended creation of Indian Environment Service.
The report had also proposed a National Environment Research Institute to bring in advanced technology in environmental governance. It also stated that the primary cause of diseases and health issues was environmental degradation.
The report was rejected by a Parliamentary Standing Committee on the ground that the three-month period for reviewing six Environmental Acts was short. It recommended the government to constitute a new Committee to review the laws.
The Plea stated, “In the current situation, the air pollution level in the Delhi NCR region and other metropolitan cities has crossed the safe limits of breathing and made policymakers look for instant solutions to bring relief to the citizens.” The Petition also requested to set up an Indian Environmental Service Academy to train officers for environmental law enforcement.
Also read: Landmark Judgements on Environmental Law
