Overview
- At an SCBA lecture, the retired Supreme Court judge said environmental cases must be decided free of popular or religious sentiment.
- He asserted that no religion permits pollution and questioned whether bursting firecrackers is an essential practice protected by Article 25.
- He warned that activists are ridiculed by the political class and that judges who issue strong environmental orders are being targeted.
- Noting a visible haze over Delhi after Diwali, he pressed for strict enforcement of laws with robust public and political support.
- He cautioned that legislative shifts replacing criminal liability with fines could dilute deterrence and undermine enforcement.