Work for eradicating plastic pollution: Apex court Judge

Vijay Arora

Legal Correspondent

Shimla, September 9

Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, a SC Judge, today highlighted the issue of rising plastic pollution while delivering a key note address on the “Role of Constitutional Courts in Protecting the Environment” organised by the Bar Association of India.

Delivering the 8th Lala Amar Chand Sood Memorial Lecture, he said: “Plastic pollution is damaging our environment rapidly. Waste plastic material is hard to dispose of and contributes to major pollution on earth. This has become a cause for global concern. It is time we take this problem seriously and work towards eradicating it.”

He said the right to a healthy environment was the product of judicial interpretations. “The Constitution had imposed a duty on the state and the citizens to protect and improve the environment,” he said.

Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary said the courts in India gradually widened the concept of quality of life and living, and applied it to various issues affecting the environment. He also cited some judgments of the HP High Court passed in this regard. He said the late Lala Amar Chand Sood was a great human being and a legal luminary.

The first designated senior advocate of the High Court, late Lala Amar Chand Sood was an eminent lawyer, philanthropist and a social worker. Born in 1906, he started his practice in 1941 in different courts. He also remained the President of the Bar Council of HP. He continued to practice law till he turned 100 years old and passed away in 2009 at the age of 103.

The welcome address was given by Kapil Dev Sood, senior advocate and Sood’s son. Justice Deepak Gupta, a Supreme Court Judge, also shared his views about the parted soul. Ashok Sharma, Advocate General, and Prashant Kumar, president of the Bar Association of India, also spoke on the occasion.