Advocate Ramchandra Simkhada and Others vs. Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Government of Nepal and Others, Writ Petition No. 068-WO-0597 (Nepal)

The government approved a road construction project through Chitwan National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which also declared wetlands under the Ramsar Convention and is one of the last refuges for the single-horned Asiatic rhinoceros and the Bengal tiger. The petitioners asserted that the road would gravely undermine the park's purpose of protecting unique and endangered biodiversity and its construction would contravene constitutional rights to life and environmental protection and the environmental protection Act. Further, as the road would negatively impact a UNESCO World Heritage-listed park, the decision breached the Nepal Treaty Act.

The court observed that while the state must primarily comply with the constitution, it also has responsibilities under international treaties and as a conscientious member of the global community. As the Nepal Treaty Act incorporates provisions of international instruments into Nepal’s law, the state could not avoid its international climate and environmental promises. The court held that the decision to approve the road was defective.