Institutionalising Solid Waste Management: Supreme Court Formulates Comprehensive Principles for Environmental Compensation and Polluter Liability
Highlights of the Judgment:
- Detailed analysis of the statutory framework under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026, regarding institutional enforcement and regulatory bodies.
- Formulation and application of the polluter pays principle for determining environmental compensation.
- Legal distinction between restitutionary environmental compensation and punitive statutory fines.
- Synthesis of supreme court precedents concerning proportionality, financial capacity, and the temporal extent of polluter liability.
- Mandates for establishing the Central Implementation Committee and structured compensation regimes.