Subhash Kumar vs. State of Bihar and Ors., (1991) 1 SCC 598 (India)

This petition is by way of public interest litigation for preventing the pollution of the Bokaro river water from the sludge/slurry discharged form the washeries of a steel company. The petitioner invoked Article 32 of the Indian Constitution for the enforcement of his fundamental rights. The petitioner alleged that the surplus waste in the form of sludge/slurry is discharged as an effluent from the washeries into the Bokaro river which gets deposited in the bed of the river and it also gets settled on land including the petitioner's land.

The court held that it did not find any good reason to accept the petitioner's allegation that the water of the river Bokaro is being polluted by the discharged of sludge or slurry into it from the washeries of the respondent-company. On the other hand, the State Pollution Control Board has taken effective steps to check the pollution. Thus, the court did not consider it necessary to delve into greater detail as it does not appear to have been filed in public interest but in the petitioner's own interest. An action under Article 32 should be taken by a person genuinely interested in the protection of society on behalf of the community. Public interest litigation cannot be invoked by a person or body or person to satisfy his or its personal grudge and enmity. 

Nevertheless, the court acknowledged that the fundamental right to live under Article 21 of the Constitution includes the right of enjoyment of pollution-free water.