Environmental Governance Failures In India: A Human Rights-Based Analysis Of Enforcement Gaps And Corporate Accountability
- IJLLR Journal
- Apr 16
- 2 min read
Preethi Naresh Kumar, LL.B., LL.M., JSS Law College, Mysuru
1. Introduction
The increasing frequency of environmental degradation in India has exposed a critical paradox at the heart of its legal system: despite an extensive framework of environmental laws and constitutional protections, their effectiveness remains deeply compromised at the level of enforcement. This disjunction between legal recognition and practical implementation raises serious concerns regarding the protection of fundamental human rights, particularly the rights to life, health, and livelihood. Although Indian constitutional jurisprudence has progressively expanded the scope of Article 21 to include the right to a clean and healthy environment, the persistence of environmental harm across sectors—from industrial pollution to large-scale developmental projects—continues to disproportionately affect vulnerable and marginalized communities.
This persistence is not merely a consequence of inadequate legal provisions, but reflects systemic failures in governance, including weak regulatory enforcement, institutional inefficiencies, and limited accountability mechanisms. Judicial interventions have played a transformative role in embedding environmental protection within the human rights framework, yet their impact remains constrained by deficiencies in implementation. In particular, the role of corporate actors in contributing to environmental degradation raises pressing questions about the adequacy of existing accountability frameworks and the effectiveness of regulatory oversight, thereby highlighting a deeper structural imbalance between economic development and environmental protection.
Against this backdrop, this paper critically examines the structural deficiencies in India’s environmental governance regime through a human rights lens. It argues that the failure to enforce environmental laws constitutes not merely a regulatory lapse but a violation of fundamental rights. By analysing enforcement gaps and challenges in corporate accountability, the study underscores the need for a rights-oriented approach to environmental governance. Ultimately, it advocates for a reconfiguration of governance frameworks that places accountability, transparency, and participatory mechanisms at their core, in order to ensure sustainable and equitable outcomes.
