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Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, judge, Supreme Court of India, today remarked that tribunals should not be used as rehabilitation of judges or bureaucrats. He said, “Merely because one has been a judge or a bureaucrat, it is not necessary that they will understand the contours of that jurisdiction.”

Justice Kaul emphasised that specialised tribunals should be manned by specialists who know the subject.

The judge was delivering the presidential address at the International Conference on Environmental Diversity and Environmental Jurisprudence, 2022 at Chandigarh University. He noted that many a times, lack of technical experts in a bench puts the court in a tight spot when dealing with highly technical litigation. He said that the brain talent available in the country must be utilised to man these tribunals.

The judge commenced his address saying, “Like you need hardware and software to operate a computer, development and environment have to go hand in hand.”

Justice Kaul pointed out that the fundamental problem that causes the environmental degradation is the attitude of humans that the earth is meant only for them. “Strong animals kill weaker animals for food, we kill for the fun of it, we kill people of the same species, that’s a matter of concern,” he said.

Speaking of the important role that India plays in the larger scheme of environmental protection, Justice Kaul noted that with just 2.4% of the world’s land, India houses 20% of the world’s population.

Further, highlighting the need to take note of the concerns regarding the climate change that is taking place now, Justice Kaul remarked, “We are seeing it today. Look, how the summer has hit us.”

Noting that the ancient scriptures like Vedas, Puranas enabled environmental protection by regulating people’s behaviour, Justice Kaul highlighted how Ardhashastra spoke of regulating people’s activities in relation to environmental aspects.

Stressing the importance of following laws, Justice Kaul said, “Law for the sake of it is not important, it must be followed.” He added, “We have started getting into the habit of enjoying how to beat the law, rather than following the law.”

He said that the world as it is today has passed the stage of creating laws as their  existence itself has now become a concern.

Justice Kaul said, “Often the executive thinks that the interludes by the judiciary, impedes the development process. If there is no environment, there will be no meaning of development from the long term perspective.”

Elaborating on this point, Justice Kaul cited the example of quarrying. He noted that while quarrying is important for growth, the courts are constrained to stop them completely because the regulations are not being followed. “Once the law is made, people have to find a way to follow it. The whole concept of ‘jugaad’ cannot go beyond a stage,” he said.

Laslty, coming to the problem of implementing environmental regulations, Justice Kaul said that the implementation of these legislations cannot be the civil procedure code aspect which should govern.

The two-day conference is being organized to emphasize on understanding and analyzing the potentials and threats faced by bio-diversity and to attain environmental Justice through sound regulatory mechanisms. This year's theme takes on the sustainable use of bio-diversity to assist Nation's growth while maintaining eco-system wellness and environmental Justice.

The conference was inaugurated by Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu, he said “environmental regulations should not be strangulating but should act as guiding principles for the people”  Other dignitaries who attended the inaugural session included Supreme Court judges Justice Surya Kant, Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court Justice Mohammad Rafiq, former Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal Justice Swatanter Kumar (Retd.), UN Resident Coordinator of India Mr. Shombi Sharp, Judge at National High Court of Brazil Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin and Governor of Punjab, Tamil Nadu & Administrator U.T., Chandigarh Banwarilal Purohit.

This year's theme of the conference takes on the sustainable use of bio-diversity to assist Nation's growth while maintaining eco-system wellness and environmental Justice.

The conference also aims to sensitizing youth, professionals, social workers, community members, and people from all walks of life about Environmental Diversity and Environmental Jurisprudence as the need of the hour.