NAVIGATING GREEN FEDERALISM: A STUDY OF CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS AND JUDICIAL INTERVENTIONS IN POST-INDEPENDENCE INDIA

Indias environmental governance has undergone considerable evolution owed to a constant tussle between the centre and the states, reflecting the countrys quasi-federal structure and the heterogeneous priorities of its regions. After independence was achieved, government policy has experienced a pendulum movement of policy-making that has ranged between extreme forms of central control and state-led action. This paper examines the development of Environmental Federalism through an analysis of constitutional provisions- such as Article 246, 48A, 51A(g) -along with a selection of key legislative acts enacted by the Government of India including the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution), Act 1986, The Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. In so far as the radical right reshapes the class composition of capital, the caste composition of society and sets the rate of profit based on the Reserve Army of Labor, Supreme Court decisions have restored balance to power relationships through reaffirmation of the authority to act emanating from central power (see e.g., MC Mehta v. Union of India; Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India). In addition, economic liberalization and the rise of environmental awareness-and commitments to federalism, in the wake of catalytic international global climate-initiatives. Despite-these developments, areas of concern still exist in the form of overlapping jurisdictions, resource constraints, and instances of political meddling.