RAS question
The 'Right to Clean Environment' is part of which fundamental right?
Correct answer: (C) Article 21.
The right to a clean environment is part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
Explanation
The Supreme Court read environmental quality into Article 21, not as a separate listed fundamental right but as part of the right to life. In Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar, the Court stated that the right to life includes the enjoyment of pollution-free water and air for the full enjoyment of life. That is why the clean-environment claim is tied to Article 21: polluted water or air can directly impair the quality of life protected by the Constitution. The judgment also noted that Article 32 may be invoked to remove pollution when it threatens that protected quality of life, but the substantive right being protected remains Article 21.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Article 14 protects equality before the law and equal protection of the laws; it is not the Article under which the Supreme Court located the right to pollution-free water and air.
- (B) Article 32 provides the constitutional remedy for enforcing fundamental rights, and the judgment says it may be invoked to remove pollution, but it is not the source of the clean-environment right itself.
- (D) Article 19 deals with freedoms such as speech and related liberties; the cited judgment anchors pollution-free water and air in Article 21's right to life instead.
Concept
This tests the judicial expansion of Article 21, a recurring RAS polity theme because landmark Supreme Court interpretations turn brief constitutional text into enforceable rights. Environmental rights are often asked through this Article 21 lens rather than as a standalone right.