Imrana Tiwana v. Province of Punjab, 2015 CLD 983 (Pakistan)

Petitioner challenged the construction of a signal free corridor (freeway) through the city of Lahore, claiming, among others, that the procedure adopted violated environmental protection laws, and that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) submitted was an inadequate, incompetent, unsubstantiated and biased appraisal of the Project, and does not satisfy the guidelines for the preparation of an EIA.  

The Court stressed the importance of environmental justice, regarding protection of the environment as an inalienable right, perhaps more fundamental than others. The Court noted that in existing environmental jurisprudence, environmental justice is based on the right to life. It went on to expand the notion of environmental justice as an amalgam of the constitutional principles of democracy, equality, social, economic and political justice, the fundamental right to life, liberty and human dignity which include the international environmental principles of sustainable development, precautionary principle, environmental impact assessment, inter and intra-generational equity and public trust doctrine. Moreover, the Court noted the principles of the Stockholm Declaration and the Bruntland Report to state that any development has to be sustainable in order to meet the needs of the current generation without compromising the needs of the future generations. It noted that the EIA was conceived as a tool to implement the precautionary principle, to aid with better planning by providing a feasibility study and incorporating public opinion. 

The Court set aside the EIA approval as violative of the right to life and dignity of the citizens, and of environmental justice and due process.