In 1987, the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development released the report Our Common Future, commonly called the Brundtland Report. The report included a definition of “sustainable development” which is now widely used as:
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
To follow the principle of sustainable development, it must be taught at the ground level and therefore, the law college in Cooch Behar and various schools teaches about the concept of sustainable development. Supreme Court in it’s numerous of judgments upheld the right to clean environment as an important part of Right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the constitution of India. The Right to clean environment to the citizens needs to be protected for the development of the country. Therefore, a proper balance needs to be maintained between the developmental activities and environment protection. To maintain this balance and to ensure environment protection as well to ensure right to clean environment for future generation we need to strictly follow the guide lines and principles of Sustainable Development. Especially the Law colleges have adopted the subject called Environmental law and under the syllabus of Environmental law the concept of sustainable development is included.
Sustainable Development can be defined as those developments that aims to meet the need of the present without sacrificing the needs of the future generation. In 1987, Brundtland Commission headed by the Norwegian P.M. Harlem presented a report on “Our common future” where it was expressly stated that harmonization of the two needs: Environment protection and promotion of development has led to the growth and development of the principles of Sustainable Development.
Supreme court has played a very crucial role in promoting sustainable development in the light of Article 21 of the constitution and upholding certain principle for the same. It is important to mention that the Parliament has enacted several legislations to prevent environmental degradationand promote clean environment. These legislations have received relevant interpretation from the supreme court to promote the doctrine of sustainable development. The doctrine of Sustainable development was first applied by the Supreme court in the case of Vellore Citizen Welfare Forum v. Union of India (1996 5 SCC 650),the Supreme Court while maintaining the principle of Polluter Pay and Pecuniary Principle as a piece of ecological law articulated that securing the damaged piece of the climate is the an integral part of the course of sustainable development, and subsequently in the current case, the polluter was held responsible to pay harms to the concerned victims just as harms for the recuperation of the damaged climate.
Similarly in the case of Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra, Dehradun v. State of Uttar Pradesh [1985 2 SCC 431], the issue raised over proceeding of mining activities in the uneven regions causing ecological pollution. The Supreme Court while maintaining the right to clean climate as a fundamental right ensured under Part – III of the Constitution requested to end the mining activities in the sloping regions. The Court additionally held that stopping of the mining activities would bring about the extraordinary monetary difficulty for individuals, however the value should be paid for the climate and for the insurance of various aspects of Environmental Rights ensured under right to life of the Constitution. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has in its series of decisions maintained and keep up with the principles and convention of sustainable development by keep a legitimate harmony between the ecological insurance and developmental activities of the general public.
Therefore, Sustainable Development is one of the important means to achieve environmental protection and improvement in the light of societal betterment. The doctrine of Sustainable Development has been held by the judiciary as an empty slogan that requires implementation and reasonable interpretation from the courts. Therefore we can say that the Law colleges in every region focus on sustainable development including the Law College in Cooch Behar.
