How Courts Are Shaping India’s Renewable Future

The climate crisis is undeniably one of the most pressing challenges of the present times and demands immediate action. As the government worldwide struggle to formulate effective climate policies, courts are increasingly stepping in to address the gaps. From the Dutch Supreme Court directing emission cuts to Germany’s Constitutional Court upholding the principle of intergenerational equity, judicial system is making an effort to fill the void where policy of that specific nation lags. India finds itself at the frontline of the global climate crisis, facing extreme risks from rising temperatures, erratic monsoons, extreme heatwaves, melting glaciers, and accelerating sea-level rise. 

In response to these threats, India has committed to bold climate goals, including achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 and installing 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based capacity by 2030.  However, the path to achieving these targets is not without red tape and regulatory gaps. In this context, Indian judiciary is emerging as a critical force compelling state accountability and shaping the legal framework of India’s renewable energy transition.

While Climate litigation, once largely limited to developed/high-income nations like the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom, is now gaining traction in developing countries such as India, Pakistan, Colombia, and South Africa.In these jurisdictions, courts are increasingly being engaged to adjudicate climate-related matters within broader legal frameworks encompassing constitutional rights, environmental regulation, land and resource governance, and disaster management. India’s environmental jurisprudence has evolved through decades of judicial innovation, particularly via public interest litigation under Article 32 and Article 226 of the Constitution.

Beginning in the 1980s and 1990s, courts played a transformative role in expanding the meaning of the right to life under Article 21 to include the right to a clean and healthy environment. Further, the judiciary further solidified India’s environmental legal framework by incorporating principles such as polluter pays and precautionary principle, into Indian law, thereby laying the groundwork for environmental constitutionalism.  The legal evolution in the previous decades set the stage for courts to respond more directly to the contemporary challenge of climate change.  

Building on this foundation, the Supreme Court’s ruling in M.K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India (MK Ranjitsinh) represents a landmark event in India’s climate jurisprudence. At the heart of the dispute was the need to balance ecological preservation with India’s international climate commitments. In this case, the Hon’ble Supreme Court held that protection from the adverse effects of climate change is intrinsic to the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, thereby elevating the said right to the level of a constitutionally protected right.

Going forward, India needs to formulate effective legislations, specifically addressing climate change.  Further, the courts have acknowledged that even in the absence of codified domestic law incorporating international climate commitments, Indian courts must remain sensitive to those obligations. As observed in the M.K. Ranjitsinh judgment, the judiciary bears the responsibility to ensure that reliefs granted in constitutional writs do not frustrate India’s international climate goals or the fundamental right to be free from the adverse effects of climate change.

To realise this vision, legislative action and judicial foresight must go hand in hand. While the courts may continue to serve as catalysts, securing a sustainable environment and long-term energy security ultimately requires Parliament to enact comprehensive legislations. It is pertinent that the legislation should be grounded in scientific data, aligned with international obligations, and coupled with effective enforcement mechanisms.

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