Examine how the Supreme Court has balanced India's renewable-energy commitments against the survival of the Great Indian Bustard. What does this mean for the constitutional right against the adverse effects of climate change?

The Great Indian Bustard (GIB) is a critically endangered bird. In M.K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India (2024), the Supreme Court had to choose between protecting it and building the solar and wind power of Rajasthan and Gujarat. The Court called this "not a binary choice" and replaced a blanket ban with expert-led, location-specific balancing [1].

Balancing Act: From Absolute Ban to Calibration

• 2021 order (conservation first): It restricted overhead lines across about 99,000 sq km, ordered them to be put underground and required bird diverters on existing lines [1].
• 2024 change (feasibility): The Court found blanket undergrounding not feasible. Underground cables cost four to five times more, lose about five times more power, and 400 kV cables can run only 5–8 km [1].
• Climate stakes: Only 3% of the region's renewable potential has been used. Leaving the rest unused would need about 93,000 MW of extra coal power [1].
• The bird stays protected: The Court called GIB preservation "non-negotiable". It set up an Expert Committee (WII Director, MNRE, MoEFCC, with CEA as invitee) to decide where lines can go in the 13,663 sq km priority area and to plan habitat restoration and community engagement [1].
• Judicial restraint: It treated undergrounding as environmental policy best decided by domain experts [1].

Implications for the Climate Right

• A distinct fundamental right: The Court drew it from Article 21 (life, health) and Article 14, because the poor, islanders and tribal communities suffer climate change unequally. It read both with Articles 48A and 51A(g) [1].
• It can support projects, not only stop them: The right can now justify renewable-energy infrastructure, not only restrain harmful activity.
• It is weighed against other rights: Courts must consider it alongside rights such as protection against displacement [1].
• Treaties shape it: UNFCCC and CBD commitments guide judicial decisions even where Parliament has not passed a law on them [1].
• Risk: Biodiversity protection now depends on how quickly and firmly the Expert Committee acts.

The judgment treats climate action and species protection as parts of one sustainability duty. The first captive-bred GIBs were released into Desert National Park in October 2026 [2]. The way forward is to put lines underground in priority zones, check that diverters work elsewhere and set time-bound committee deadlines. That would show the climate right protects ecosystems as well as people, in line with Article 48A and SDGs 13 and 15.