INDIAN ASTHAMA CARE SOCIETY Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) FINDING sachets of Gutkha, Tobacco and Pan Masala lying scattered at public places, the petitioners have approached this Court with the request to invoke `the Pollutor pays Principle' and impose fine on the manufacturers of Gutkha, Tobacco and Pan Masala.

(2.) THE "pollutor pays principle" implies that the absolute liability to harm the environment extends upon the pollutor not only to compensate the victims of pollution but also the cost of restoring the environmental degradation. THE principle provides that where the environment has been damaged/ degraded on account of pollution, the pollutor would be liable to compensate the individual sufferers and to pay the cost of restoring the damaged ecology.

(3.) THE problem of plastic pollution is serious. Public nuisance, because of plastic pollution to the detriment of the people, is a challenge to the social justice component of the rule of law.