India: Narmada Bachao Andolan v. Union of India, [2000] 10 S.C.C. 664


The Supreme Court of India declined to get involved in a petition against damming the Narmada River. In so doing, the Court noted that a lengthy decision-making process had been behind the damming, and that the Court should not try to second-guess something which had been given such great consideration already. Thus, the Court essentially gave the go-ahead for the displacement of indigenous and tribal populations which were in the path of the damming. In its decision, the Court took into consideration the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention of 1957, the ILO Convention No. 107, and principles of international environmental law.

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