UPSC Mains 2015 GS2 Q7 — Right to Environment
Does the right to clean environment entail legal regulations on burning crackers during Diwali? Discuss in the light of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and Judgement(s) of the Apex Court in this regard. (Answer in 200 words)
Question Decoded — examiner's intent
- Directive verbs
- Discuss
- Scope keywords
- right to clean environmentlegal regulations on burning crackersDiwaliArticle 21 of the Indian ConstitutionJudgement(s) of the Apex Court
- Implicit sub-parts
- Does Article 21's Right to Life encompass a healthy environment as per judicial interpretation?
- How does the court balance the 'Right to Religion' (Article 25) vs the 'Right to Life' (Article 21) in the context of Diwali?
- What specific judicial guidelines or bans (e.g., green crackers) currently exist to regulate firecrackers?
- What are the legal enforcement challenges and the impact of the 'Precautionary Principle' on this issue?
- Common pitfalls
- Writing a general essay on air pollution without citing specific Supreme Court cases like Arjun Gopal vs Union of India.
- Focusing too much on the religious/sentimental aspect of Diwali instead of the constitutional conflict between Article 21 and Article 25.
- Failing to mention the distinction between complete bans vs. regulations like 'green crackers' and specific time windows.
- Neglecting the 'Intergenerational Equity' principle which the Court often uses to justify environmental regulations.
- Dimensions required
- Constitutional LawEnvironmental JurisprudencePublic HealthSocio-Religious context
- Marks allocation hint
Dedicate 40 words to the evolution of Article 21 to include a clean environment. Use 100 words to discuss specific Supreme Court rulings and the balancing of fundamental rights. Reserve the final 60 words for current legal regulations (green crackers, time slots) and a conclusion on the synthesis of health and tradition.
Unlock the full analysis for this question
You've seen the question and its examiner-intent decoding. Subscribers also get:
- 🔗 Similar Previous Year Questions — cross-year, cross-paper matches so you study the topic, not the question
- 📚 Source Map — verified citations from Laxmikanth, NCERT, PRS, Yojana, Economic Survey, Spectrum
- 🌱 How this topic is evolving — current-affairs bridge anchored to live TARS news clustering
- 🧭 Examiner's Pattern — how the topic has been framed across every year UPSC has tested it
- ✍️ Answer Skeleton — a structured outline (intro → body → conclusion) you can flesh out
- 🎯 AI evaluation — write your answer, get rubric-based scoring from gs-eval
Or browse 132+ free preview questions across all years and papers — the first 3 questions of every paper are unlocked.
Ready to practice?
Subscribers can attempt this question in 200 words and get an instant, rubric-based evaluation showing where they stand.
Subscribe to evaluate your answer →