Protection of environment and wildlife

Also called: Article 48A · Topic: Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 10 "The Constitution of India: An Introduction"

Meaning

Article 48A is a Directive Principle of State Policy, added by the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976. It asks the State to "protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country" [2]. It matters because it was the first time the Constitution named the environment as a goal for the State. Its twin, the citizen's duty in Article 51A(g), was added by the same amendment [4].

Explanation

What Article 48A says

• Full text: "The State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country" [2].
• It places three tasks on the State:
• Protect the environment from harm.
• Improve the environment, not just keep it as it is.

• Safeguard forests and wildlife.

• The words "shall endeavour" mean "shall try". This is the usual language of a directive. It sets a goal, not a strict command.

Where it fits among the directives

• Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) are goals in Part IV (Arts. 36–51) that guide the State when it makes laws and policy. India took the idea from the Irish Constitution of 1937.
• Scholars sort DPSPs into three groups: socialist, Gandhian and liberal-intellectual.
• Art. 48A is a liberal-intellectual directive. It reflects modern ideas about science and the environment.
• Other directives in this group: Arts. 44, 45, 48 (modern farming part), 49, 50 and 51.

Its twin: the citizen's duty in Article 51A(g)

• Art. 51A(g) is a Fundamental Duty in Part IVA. Every citizen should "protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures" [3].
• One amendment, two sides:
• Art. 48A places the duty on the State.
• Art. 51A(g) places the duty on the citizen.

• The 42nd Amendment, 1976 added both [4].

• Art. 51A(g) is wider in wording. It names lakes and rivers, and it adds compassion for living creatures [3].

Limits

• Non-justiciable: a citizen cannot go to court to make the State carry out Art. 48A. Art. 37 says that no court can enforce the directives, but they are still basic to how the country is governed.
• Fundamental Duties are not enforceable by courts on their own either. They take effect through laws made by Parliament.
• So Art. 48A works through laws and through the way courts read other rights. It does not work as a direct court order.

In the Constitution and practice

• Position: Part IV (DPSP). It was not in the 1950 Constitution. The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 inserted it [2].
• Other changes the 42nd Amendment made:
• It added the most directives of any amendment: it substituted 39(f) and added 39A, 43A and 48A.

• It created Part IVA (Fundamental Duties, Art. 51A), which includes 51A(g) [3].

• Laws that carry out the goal:

Act	Year	What it does
Wildlife (Protection) Act	1972	Protects wild animals and plants. It came before Art. 48A.
Forest (Conservation) Act	1980	Limits the use of forest land for non-forest purposes.
Environment (Protection) Act	1986	An umbrella law (one broad law that covers many issues) that lets the Centre control pollution.

• Role in the courts:
• Art. 48A and Art. 51A(g) give judges a basis in the Constitution for reading a right to a clean environment into Art. 21 (protection of life and personal liberty).

• A non-enforceable directive therefore gives shape to an enforceable Fundamental Right.

• Who uses it: Parliament and state legislatures when they pass environmental laws, governments when they make forest and wildlife policy, and courts when they interpret laws and rights.

Don't confuse with

• Article 51A(g): a Fundamental Duty of the citizen (Part IVA). Art. 48A is a directive to the State (Part IV). The 42nd Amendment, 1976 added both.
• Article 48: covers agriculture and animal husbandry on modern, scientific lines, and the Gandhian goal of preserving cattle breeds and banning cow slaughter. It is in the original 1950 Constitution. Art. 48A, on environment, forests and wildlife, came in 1976.
• Article 49: the State must protect monuments and places of national importance declared by Parliament's law. This protects heritage, not nature.
• Article 21 (right to a clean environment): a Fundamental Right that courts can enforce, as the courts have read it. Art. 48A on its own cannot be enforced in court.

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 48A (DPSP) and Art. 51A(g) (Fundamental Duty) were both inserted by the 42nd Amendment, 1976. Neither was in the original 1950 Constitution [2][3].
• Trap: the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 is older than Art. 48A. It did not come from the directive.
• Order of laws: Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, then Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, then Environment (Protection) Act 1986.
• Art. 51A(g) names forests, lakes, rivers and wild life and adds compassion for living creatures. Art. 48A names only environment, forests and wild life [2][3].
• Art. 48A is a liberal-intellectual directive. The cow-protection part of Art. 48 is Gandhian.
• Which directives did the 42nd Amendment add? 39A, 43A and 48A, and it substituted 39(f). Trap: 43B came from the 97th Amendment, and 38(2) came from the 44th.

Mains Points

• Environmental constitutionalism (protecting the environment through the Constitution):
• Art. 48A (the State's duty) and Art. 51A(g) (the citizen's duty) together let courts read the right to a clean environment into Art. 21.

• This shows how a non-justiciable directive can still shape enforceable rights.

• From directive to law:

• The laws of 1980 and 1986 show a directive being turned into statutes.

• But the Wildlife Act of 1972 came before Art. 48A. Parliament had already started acting, and the 42nd Amendment gave that work a clear basis in the Constitution [4].

• Shared responsibility, and its limits:

• Pairing a State directive with a citizen duty treats the environment as everyone's job.
• But neither Art. 48A nor Art. 51A(g) can be enforced directly. Results depend on how strong the laws are and how well they are carried out. This is a gap in the system worth noting in GS-II answers.

Related concepts

• Liberal-intellectual principles
• Early childhood care and education
• Protection of monuments
• Separation of judiciary from executive
• Promotion of international peace and security
• Directives outside Part IV

Read more

• Liberal-intellectual directives, amendments and directives outside Part IV