Article 48A

Article 48A was added by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment in 1976, during growing global and national concern about pollution, deforestation, and species loss. It followed the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, which pushed many countries, including India, to recognize environmental protection as a state responsibility. As a Directive Principle of State Policy, it guides government policy-making even though it is not directly enforceable in court by itself.

Courts have often read Article 48A together with Article 21 (right to life) to hold that a clean and healthy environment is part of the fundamental right to life. In cases like the Ganga pollution litigation and various forest and wildlife matters, the Supreme Court has cited Article 48A alongside Article 21 and Article 51A(g) to justify strong judicial intervention for environmental protection, effectively giving this Directive Principle real legal weight through interpretation.

• Myth: Article 48A lets citizens directly sue the government for environmental damage.
  Fact: It is a Directive Principle of State Policy, meaning it guides government action but is not directly enforceable in court on its own; however, courts have used it alongside Article 21 to support environmental rulings.
• Myth: This Article only talks about forests and wildlife.
  Fact: It also broadly covers protecting and improving the environment as a whole, not just forests and wild animals.