“Dear Justice Abhay S. Oka, The Environment Deserves Consistency, Not Sermons”, Law Beat, November 02, 2025
“When a judge steps out of a judgment and into a sermon, especially around a Hindu festival, the line between judicial restraint and public moralising begins to fade.
In a recent address, former Supreme Court judge Abhay S. Oka observed that no religion permits harming the environment and that bursting firecrackers, using loudspeakers or immersing idols in polluted waters cannot be defended as religious practice. He added that courts must show “zero tolerance” for environmental law violations and should not be swayed by popular or religious sentiments. The remarks, delivered at a climate-justice themed talk in Delhi.
There is nothing to dispute in principle. However, the pattern is not unfamiliar. Appeals for restraint in the face of the environment surface most vocally around October and November and are framed through Diwali. The same intensity is rarely directed at other mass celebrations that impose measurable environmental burdens. That imbalance, rather than the science, is what unsettles public perception…..”
Read full article at lawbeat.in
