The Rights Of Nature: A Constitutional Blueprint For Granting Ecosystem Personhood In India
- IJLLR Journal
- Nov 4, 2025
- 2 min read
Aalya Hussain, LLM, Usha Martin University, Ranchi, Jharkhand
ABSTRACT
The anthropocentric architecture of Indian environmental law, despite its progressive jurisprudence, is reaching its conceptual limits in the face of an escalating ecological crisis, as evidenced by failing enforcement metrics and continued ecosystem degradation. This article proposes a paradigm shift: the conferral of legal personhood upon natural ecosystems. It argues that such a recognition is not a jurisprudential anomaly but a logical evolution of India's constitutional principles, specifically the expansive interpretation of Article 21 (Right to Life) and the Public Trust Doctrine. The article begins by deconstructing the philosophical underpinnings of legal personhood, demonstrating its fluidity and instrumental nature. It then surveys the current Indian legal landscape, highlighting the latent potential and subsequent judicial hesitation evident in the Uttarakhand High Court's landmark but stayed decisions. A comparative analysis of global precedents provides a practical framework for adaptation.
The core of the article identifies the critical lacunae in existing environmental law, supported by empirical data, which ecosystem personhood can effectively address. The article then constructs a novel, tiered legal framework for India, outlining the process for declaration, a participatory guardianship model, and enforceable rights. Crucially, it engages in a forward-looking jurisprudential analysis, anticipating and resolving key ontological and practical objections—such as conflicts with human rights— through the proposed principle of 'Ecological Primacy' and a structured proportionality test. This comprehensive model seeks to move environmental protection from a reactive, welfare-oriented model to a proactive, right-based, and duty-bound paradigm, ensuring that nature has a voice, and not merely a value, in the court of law.
Keywords: Legal Personhood, Rights of Nature, Indian Environmental Law, Public Trust Doctrine, Article 21, Ecocentric Jurisprudence, Uttarakhand River Case, Guardianship Model, Ecological Primacy.
