ISSUE:
Whether the Urban Development Authority could be given primacy over the need protect environment?
Whether the need of principle of sustainable development can be ignored over and above the Urban Development?
Whether there is a conflict of public interest?
Whether the action of Arunachal Pradesh Government intaking the impugned decisions is permissible under the light of Article 21 of Indian Constitution?
RULE:
The Principle of Sustainable Development, enunciated in the Stockholm Convention is the notion that development and the environment should not be a ‘chalk-and-cheese’ matter, but must go hand in hand with each other, portraying a balance between urban development and environmental conservation and protection.
The three main remnants of the Public Trust Doctrine are that the property must be available for use by the general public, it must not be sold even for a fair equivalent of money and it should be maintained for particular uses. The Doctrine emphasises on the importance of the management of resources and the environment.
Keeping in mind the importance of preserving and protecting natural resources for future generations as well, the principle of Inter-generational equity sets a base for man to bear the responsibility of protecting and improving the environment and safeguarding it through appropriate management.
Articles 48-A and 51A of the Constitution holds the State and citizens respectively accountable for protecting and safeguarding the natural resources, which are pivotal to the governance in the country.