Best Judicial Practice from South Asia

Ritwick Dutta discussed the different kinds of environmental litigation and legal issues that have emerged in Asia. He also showed news clippings on the Bombay High Court's perspective on the Aarey Case and the Uttarakhand High Court's order to share Divya Pharmacy's profits with farmers and the local community before highlighting Justice Mansoor Ali Shah's point: that existing environmental jurisprudence needs to be fashioned to meet the needs of climate change. He then presented the National Green Tribunal's pro-environmental stance regarding the Mopa Airport Project.

To end, he raised six concerns. First, the gravity of climate change has not yet figured in judicial decisions. Second, judicial review dominates merit review. Third, cases are largely based on local violations, such as pollution, deforestation, urban planning failure, and abuse of resource rights. Fourth, judicial decisions have not kept pace with the threat of climate change. Fifth, the Paris Agreement is seen as as part of the policy domain, and not a justiciable issue. Lastly, there has been no change in governmental decision making and judicial decision making since the Paris Agreement.