Environmental Protection: The Role of Liability System in India

This paper reports a study on the functioning of the courts with the purpose of finding out whether the liability system is really effective in protecting and improving environmental quality in India. Since courts were unable to provide adequate redressal under general practice because of legal delays, higher litigation cost and complicated legal procedures, the courts introduced public interest litigation. The inferences drawn from the empirical work analysed in the light of the theory of the liability system reveal that the courts are unable to provide incentives to the tortfeasor because of informational disadvantages in the case of scientific knowledge, legal delays, poor monitoring of implementation of orders, etc. There is thus a need to improve the functioning of the liability system by making necessary changes not only in the substance of the law, but also in the working conditions of the courts to protect and improve environmental quality in India.