“DYING FOR DEVELPMENT: CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS IGNORED IN PURSUIT OF GROWTH WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO DEFORESTATION IN INDIA”
AUTHOR – NISHA VERMA* & DR. DEO NARAYAN SINGH**
* LLM STUDENT, CUSB, GAYA
** ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, CUSB, GAYA
BEST CITATION – NISHA VERMA & DR. DEO NARAYAN SINGH, “DYING FOR DEVELPMENT: CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS IGNORED IN PURSUIT OF GROWTH WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO DEFORESTATION IN INDIA”, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (10) OF 2026, PG. 135-147, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.
ABSTRACT
The growing preference for economic development over environmental protection has heightened constitutional issues relating to forest governance in India. Infrastructure expansion, mining, industrialisation and strategic projects are often justified in the name of national development, but they have led to accelerated deforestation, weakened ecological safeguards and undermined the constitutional rights of forest-dependent communities. The paper is a critical analysis of the constitutional aspects of development-induced deforestation with reference to Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023, Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2020 and recent judicial developments. It examines the impact of dilution of safeguards of the environment on the guarantees under Articles 21, 48A and 51A(g) of the Constitution and the rights of Scheduled Tribes under the Fifth and Sixth Schedules and Forest Rights Act, 2006. The study also analyzes the essential constitutional doctrines of sustainable development, the public trust doctrine, the precautionary principle, intergenerational equity and rights-based environmental governance. Using judicial precedents, legislative developments, empirical data on forest loss, government conservation initiatives and recent case studies such as Hasdeo Arand, Great Nicobar, and Aarey Forest, the article emphasizes the huge ecological, social and constitutional costs of unbridled developmental policies. It argues that constitutional governance demands a development model that integrates environmental justice, democratic participation, and ecological sustainability rather than treating them as obstacles to economic growth. The article concludes by recommending legislative reforms, stronger environmental institutions, judicial vigilance, and community-centred forest governance to restore the constitutional balance between development and environmental protection.
Keywords: Deforestation, Forest Conservation Act, Constitutional Safeguards, Article 21, Tribal Rights, CAMPA, Forest Conservation Amendment Act 2023, Environmental Governance