POLLUTER PAY PRINCIPLE – GUARDIAN OF THE ENVIRONMENT

AUTHOR – MRINAL BIRLA, STUDENT AT SCHOOL OF LAW, NMIMS (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY)

BEST CITATION – MRINAL BIRLA, POLLUTER PAY PRINCIPLE – GUARDIAN OF THE ENVIRONMENT, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 4 (2) OF 2024, PG. 1214-1217, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

Abstract

What if one nation through its activity starts degrading the environment of its adjacent nation in some or the other way? Will that nation be held responsible for its acts? The answer to this question is provided through the concept of ‘Polluter Pays Principle’, prevalent in the area of environment law. With the advent of industrial revolution and setting up of industries, the condition of environment has drastically degraded. Degrading environment is no more restricted to boundaries of a nation, as it is capable of harming it for other nations too and hence, ultimately keeping the global environment at stake. Also, the absence of sanctions and penalties from the scope of environment law makes it difficult to keep a check on the harm being caused to environment. According to the polluter pays principle, it is generally accepted at the international and regional level that the polluter should be made responsible and should pay and not the authorities. Existence of this principle is key to curbing the environmental degradation as it includes in its ambit the idea of penalties for the polluter. This paper aims at discussing the importance of polluter pays principle along with its position in India. It also includes the limitations of the principle.Keywords: ­­­­­Environment, Protection, Compensation, Pollution, Development, Penalty.