M.K. RANJITSINH & ORS. versus UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

Citation: [2021] 4 S.C.R. 81 · Decided: 19-04-2021 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: S.A. BOBDE, A.S. BOPANNA, V. RAMASUBRAMANIAN · Disposal: Directions issued
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Judgment (excerpt)

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M.K. RANJITSINH & ORS.
v.
UNION OF INDIA & ORS.
(I.A. No. 85618 of 2020)
In
(Writ Petition (Civil) No.838 of 2019)
APRIL 19, 2021
[S. A. BOBDE, CJI, A.S. BOPANNA AND
V. RAMASUBRAMANIAN, JJ.]
Environmental laws: Wild life – Protection and conservation
of endangered species – Writ petition seeking protection of birds-
Great Indian bustard (GIB) and Lesser Florican, on verge of
extinction since they are getting killed on their collision with the
overhead power lines – Directions sought to the State of Rajasthan
and Gujarat to ensure predator proof fencing, controlled grazing
in the enclosure development – Direction sought that not to permit
installation of overhead power lines, further construction of
windmills and installation of solar infrastructure in priority and
potential habitat – Direction also sought for undergrounding all
future overhead power lines; selected power lines in priority GIB
habitat and installation of divertors in potential habitat – Held: In
view of the sustainable development concept and on striking a
balance, the protection of the rare species of birds is essentially to
be made, while at the same time allowing transmission of power in
an appropriate manner – It would not be feasible to lay underground
power cables in certain areas and the conversion of the already
existing cables also cannot be made in certain locations – In such
locations, it is recommended that ‘bird divertors’ be installed on the
existing power lines and the undergrounding of the new power line
wherever technically feasible in the vicinity of the habitats be
undertaken – Furthermore, eggs of the said species of birds to be
protected, by transferring the same to the breeding centres – Laying
of the underground power line more particularly of high- voltage,
would require technical evaluation on case- to- case basis –
Committee is constituted to assess the feasibility of laying of high-
voltage underground power line – In view thereof, all low voltage
   [2021] 4 S.C.R. 81
81
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2021] 4 S.C.R.
powerlines to be laid in the priority and potential habitats of GIB,
to be laid underground in future, and the existing low voltage
overhead powerlines to be converted into underground powerlines
– High- voltage powerlines in the priority and potential habitats of
GIB, as referred herein, to be converted into underground power
line.
T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad vs. Union of India &
Ors. (2012) 3 SCC 277 : [2012] 3  SCR 460; Centre
for Environmental Law, World Wide Fund – India vs.
Union of India & Ors. (2013) 8 SCC 234 : [ 2013] 6
SCR 757 – referred to.
Case Law Reference
[2012] 3 SCR 460
referred to
Para 4
[2013] 6 SCR 757
referred to
Para 5
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION : I.A. No. 85618 of 2020 in
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 838 off 2019.
(Under Article 32 of The Constitution Of India)
Shyam Divan, Prashanto Chandra Sen, Sr. Advs., Ms. Sonia Dube,
Ms. Sugandha Yadav, Shatadru Chakraborty, Ms. Ria Sawhney, Ms.
Surbhi Anand, M/s. Legal Options, Advs. for the Petitioners.
Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, ASG., Saurabh Mishra, AAG., Dr. Manish
Singhvi, Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, S.B. Upadhyay, M.G.
Ramachandran, Ranji Thomas, Sr. Advs., Gurmeet Singh Makkar, D.L.
Chidananda, Ankur Talwaar, Shyam Gopal, Milind Kumar, Vikas Bansal,
Sunny Choudhary, Arjun Garg, Varun K. Chopra, Gurtejpal Singh for
M/s. Vkc Law Offices, Mahfooz A. Nazki, Polanki Gowtham, Shaik
Mohamad Haneef, T. Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, Amitabh Sinha, Shrey
Sharma, Sandeep Jha, Aaditya A. Pande, Rahul Chitnis, Sachin Patil,
Geo Joseph, Mahesh Agarwal, Arshit Anand, Yojit Mehra, Ms. Kamakshi
Sehgal, Amit Bhandari, Ms. Ashima Chauhan, E.C. Agrawala, Somesh
Chandra Jha, Rahul Narang, Ms. Aastha Mehta, Ms. Deepanwita
Priyanka, Aniruddha P. Mayee, Ms. Hemantika Wahi, Ms. Ranjitha
Ramachandran, Ms. Jesal Wahi, V.N. Raghupathy, Shivi Sanyam, Ms.
Pratishtha Vij, Jappanpreet Hora, A. Karthik, Devendra Singh, Anant
Kumar Vatsya, Vatsya Krishnaiya, Ms. Arti Singh, Aakashdeep Singh
Roda, Basant Pal Singh, Ms. Pooja Singh, Advs. for the Respondents.
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The following Order of the Court was passed:
ORDER
1. The writ petition is filed in the nature of public interest seeking
to protect two species of birds namely the Great Indian Bustard (‘GIB’
for short) and the Lesser Florican, which is on the verge of extinction.
The existence of overhead power lines is stated to have become a hazard
due to which the said species of birds on collision are
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