A group of 72 lawyers, law students, law professors, law scholars and activists, as well as several other organizations and a group of former civil servants, have written a letter to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant regarding his recent comments on people approaching courts in connection with environmental claims.
During a hearing on May 11, a bench comprising the CJI and Justice Joymalia Bagchi said: “Show us even one project in this country where these so-called environmental activists have said we welcome this project.”
These statements came while the court was hearing a case related to the proposed expansion of the Pipavav port in Gujarat.
Organizations and former civil servants write to the CJI
In an open letter sent to the CJI, the former civil servants and organizations on Friday called for the remarks to be withdrawn.
“The comments risk being perceived as reflexively viewing real environmental auditing and public interest litigation as ‘anti-development,’” the letter said.
She further said that such an opinion is “factually inaccurate, constitutionally troubling, and potentially dangerous.”
In a separate statement issued on Friday, the group of former civil servants said: “The CJI’s statements against environmental activists and litigants, suggesting that these activists are obstructing ‘development’, reveal alarming bias and prejudice, coming from the highest judiciary in the country, an authority whose job it is to handle every case without preconceptions and decide every case on an objective basis.”
Lawyers express concern over CJI’s remarks
In a letter published Tuesday, the lawyers’ group said the observations cast unfair doubt on citizens, communities and groups working to protect the environment through the legal processes, legal institutions and legal principles established by the Supreme Court over several decades.
Those who signed the letter are members of the National Alliance for Justice, Accountability and Rights, a platform made up of legal professionals.
“We write because the observations made extend beyond the outcome in a single case. They relate to a broader jurisprudential shift: from viewing environmental litigation as an integral part of constitutional governance to treating it as a suspected form of obstruction,” the letter said.
She added that the observations also indicate a shift from recognizing citizens as those who impose legal responsibilities to excluding them as “so-called environmental activists.”
The letter also urged the CJI to reaffirm environmental legal principles and constitutional values.
This should include recognizing environmental political impeachment rules and appeals in the National Green Tribunal as constitutional and legal enforcement measures, rather than treating them as “supposedly motivated attempts to obstruct development,” she said.
With inputs from PTI
