New Delhi, November 09: Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia today suggested amending various environmental laws to give them more teeth and also providing requisite machinery to implement them properly.
“You (lawyers) should tell the government. Please amend the laws and provide teeth for their enforceability,” said Kapadia, pointing out that the legislature has enacted several laws for protection of environment but has provided “no machinery” to enforce them.
The CJI was addressing a gathering of various legal luminaries including senior Supreme Court and Delhi High Court judges and lawyers here on the occasion of National Legal Service Day which marks the enactment of the National Legal Service Act in 1987.
Elaborating on the difference between the Forest Act of 1920 and its present form after it was amended in 1980, Kapadia pointed out that the 1920 law treated jungles as a national resource to be exploited for revenue generation.
–Agencies