Owing to the negligence of the authorities concerned, rule of law lacks everywhere in Pakistan, forcing the courts to take notice of it and pass appropriate orders, which too are not implemented in letter and spirit. The Supreme Court and high courts have taken notices into hundreds and thousands of matters, right from price hike and environmental pollution to mega corruption scams, where illegalities were committed. Like other cases, the Supreme Court and high courts are seized with dozens of cases pertaining to environmental pollution and non-implementation of related laws.
The apex court has recently passed orders in two cases of environmental pollution. In one case, the court ordered the Punjab government to replace the uprooted trees with new ones in Kanal Road Widening Project in Lahore. In another case, the court directed the Sindh government to take concrete steps for making the Manchar Lake pollution free. A few days ago, the Balochistan High Court organised a conference on environmental law, which was inaugurated by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who appreciated the efforts of Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa for providing an opportunity to divulge upon a very important but ignored discipline of law.
Justice Chaudhry stressed that the environmental laws and regulations needed to be implemented, enforced and complied with efficiently and vigorously. He said the proper implementation and enforcement of environmental laws was not possible until and unless all the three organs of the state played their respective roles. He said it was for the executive to formulate and promote healthy environmental policies for the protection and conservation of natural resources and sustainable economic growth. The legislature, he said, could play its role by revising outdated laws and providing a forceful legal machinery. He said the role of judiciary could not be downplayed as strengthened judicial machinery was a sine qua non for the proper enforcement and implementation of laws. He said there was also a need to bridge the gap between the national environmental policies, legislative goals and their implementation. The 1973 Constitution empowers the central and provincial legislatures to formulate laws for the protection of its citizens, however, there is no specific provision therein on the protection of environment. Previously, the constitution contained provisions for environmental protection and resource conservation by mentioning “Environmental Pollution and Ecology” as a subject in the Concurrent Legislative List. The same has been omitted by the Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act 2010. Consequently, this subject gets transferred to provinces.
The Indian constitution makes it obligatory for the State ‘to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures’. The Environmental Protection Act 1997 has since been adopted by the governments of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan by virtue of Article 270 AA of the Constitution, whereas the process of devolution of the matters mentioned in the list to the provinces, required to be completed by June 30, 2011, has not been done so far. Now there is a need to consider this aspect and suggest workable mechanism for effective protection of the environment both by the federal and provincial governments. The law on the environmental protection may not be perfect but it contains several useful provisions for ending environmental degradation. The judiciary has always endeavoured to redress grievances pertaining to the environmental issues within the existing legal sphere. The Supreme Court in the famous case of ‘Shehla Zia versus WAPDA’ (PLD 1994 SC 693) has extended the scope of Article 9 of the Constitution to cover certain aspects of the environmental pollution. The case pertained to the construction of a high voltage grid station by the WAPDA. The Supreme Court interpreted the ‘right to life’ guaranteed in the constitution to include the right to a clean environment. The court observed that although the Constitution of Pakistan does not define the word life still its scope cannot be restricted only to the ‘vegetative or animal life or mere existence from conception to death.
All such amenities or facilities, which a person in a free country is entitled to enjoy with dignity, legally and constitutionally’, were held to be covered under the word life. The court appointed a commission to examine the likelihood of adverse effects of the grid station on the health of the residents of the locality.
Most importantly, in this case the court also placed reliance on international declarations on the protection of the environment, namely the declaration of United Nations Conference on the Human Environment Stockholm 1972 and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development 1992.
The court observed that as an honourable member of international community, the state is bound to follow international law.
There are many other cases of vital importance wherein the superior courts have got themselves involved in the environmental regime and annulled various measures and actions of executive authorities that aimed to disrupt the environmental protection schemes.
There are a number of central and provincial enactments on environmental laws in Pakistan. At the International level, Pakistan is a member of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and South Asia Cooperative Environmental Programme (SACEP). Pakistan is also a signatory to a number of multilateral environment-related agreements and conventions.