Madhya Pradesh is one of the most environment friendly states in India ; Having the largest forest cover among all states in India. However in recent times several forest fires have occurred at various places in the state and no actions have been taken by the concerned authorities to prevent the same.
In light of the forest fires which took place at Bandhavgarh, Shahdol, Dindori and Amarkantak and other surrounding region of the state; A writ petition has been filed by Law Student Manan Agarwal who is pursuing his studies from Faculty of Law, New Delhi along with Advocates Adv. Samyak Jain and Adv. Dheeraj Tiwari. In the said plea they have sought a judicial inquiry to investigate the ignorance, inactiveness, negligence and readiness of the Centre, state government and chief conservator of forests who have rendered a great loss to forests because of their inaction in preventing the forest fires.
In their petition they have stated that despite warnings given by the meteorological department the concerned authorities took no step to prevent forest fires from happening and the said inaction has led to a great loss of flora fauna in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
The petitioners have further stated that even the environment has certain rights to protect itself. They have been enshrined by the constitution under Article 32, 14, 19, 21 and 48A of the Constitution of India. They further contended that even plants and animals have the right to life under Art 21 and the same has been held by various courts of the country .
In their petition they also reflected how various religious texts have also emphasised on the need of protecting and conserving the environment . They further stated landmark cases which have provided for the protection of the environment and even stated a poem written by Nobel Laureate Sri Rabindranath Tagore.
The Madhya Pradesh HC on 17th May 2021 in the present case of Shri Manan Agarwal and Ors. v. The State of Madhya Pradesh and Ors. issued notices to the concerned authorities and also appointed Advocate Anshuman Singh as the amicus curiae in the present matter to assist the court in the present matter.