RAS question
The Environment Protection Act (EPA) 1986 was enacted under which article of the Constitution?
Correct answer: (A) Article 253.
The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 was enacted under Article 253 of the Constitution, which empowers Parliament to make laws for implementing international agreements and conference decisions.
Explanation
Article 253 is the constitutional basis because it gives Parliament power to legislate for India, or any part of India, to implement a treaty, agreement, convention, or decision made at an international conference. The Supreme Court judgment notes that the preamble to the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 refers to the decision taken at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held at Stockholm in June 1972, where India participated, and to the need to protect and improve the environment and prevent hazards to human beings and other living creatures. The Act's enactment also belongs to the post-Bhopal context. The key RAS point is therefore not a general environmental article, but Parliament's treaty-implementation power under Article 253.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Article 21 is relevant to the judicially recognised right to a healthy environment, but it is not the constitutional provision under which Parliament enacted the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
- (C) Article 51A(g) states a citizen's fundamental duty to protect and improve the natural environment, so it explains civic responsibility rather than Parliament's law-making power for the Act.
- (D) Article 48A is a Directive Principle asking the State to protect and improve the environment, but the Act's legislative route is Article 253, tied to international commitments.
Concept
This tests the constitutional source of environmental legislation, especially the link between international environmental commitments and Parliament's law-making power. It recurs in RAS because environment questions often mix Article 21, Article 48A, Article 51A(g), and Article 253.