Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v. Union of India

Facts

• Chemical industries had improperly handled and disposed of hazardous waste over an extended period
• This caused severe contamination of soil and groundwater in the surrounding area
• The affected community and environment suffered significant, ongoing harm
• The industries argued their liability should be limited to some lesser, capped compensation figure

Issue

1. Whether polluting industries should be held liable for the complete cost of environmental remediation, or whether their liability should be limited to a lesser compensation measure.

Held

• The Court applied both the polluter pays principle and the absolute liability standard together
• The polluting industries were held responsible for funding the complete, actual cost of remediating the environmental damage
• The argument for capped or limited compensation was rejected, since this would leave the underlying environmental damage inadequately addressed
• This fused framework removed traditional strict liability exceptions given the inherently hazardous nature of the activity

Ratio Decidendi

Enterprises causing environmental harm through inherently hazardous activity must fund the complete, actual cost of remediation, not merely a lesser capped compensation sum, ensuring the environmental harm is genuinely corrected rather than merely nominally compensated while damage persists.