Remedies for environmental harm: Dharmic duty and tort liability in India - is there a common ground?

This paper examines how dharmic values and tort liability justifications co-exist and have been marshalled to meet environmental objectives and fashion civil remedies for environmental claims in India. It is argued that recent decisions by the Supreme Court reflect application of a complementary theory and a pragmatic approach to resolve environmental claims and provide remedies to victims. This pluralistic legal culture which provides tortious remedies for environmental claims can form a basis for clear theory that can add to the environmental liability framework in India. Although the scope of tort law in environmental claims may be limited by the nature of claim the use of tort law functions can further supplement the public liability regime. The challenge that the lawmakers and the judiciary face in India is to balance the legal law with dharmic concepts and make it mainstream.