A Discussion on Interplay of Criminal Sanctions Under General Penal Laws for Environmental Harm and Specific Legislation for Water Pollution in Light of Judicial Delineation in India

Indian jurisprudence provides for the availability of simultaneous prosecution under both General (Common) Laws and Special laws for perpetrators of environmental harm. The area to be focused on is the applicability of provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 (hereinafter, “CrPC”) with the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1974 (hereinafter, “Water Act”) and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1981 (hereinafter, “Air Act”). Secondly, the question addressed is whether the non-grant of sanction under Section 197 of CrPC would be a bar to the invocation of criminal sanctions against government officials under special legislation, i.e., the Water Act. The alternative area which the author wishes to delve into is whether instead of punishing a person for the environmental offence qua water under the Water Act, can it be substituted by applying the alternative deterrent modes so that environmental crimes are lessened and the efficacy of criminal sanctions are not thwarted by filing quashment petitions? The statistical and empirical data presented show that criminal sanctions for environmental violations have proven to be ineffective and there are very few convictions recorded. The research methodology adopted is doctrinal and analytical and specific reliance on secondary sources of data has been used.