On Friday, the Supreme Court held that corporate social responsibility cannot remain confined to social welfare alone and must necessarily extend to ecology and environmental protection. While addressing the imminent threat to the Great Indian Bustard (GIB), the Court situated environmental responsibility within the very idea of CSR, describing it not as corporate benevolence but as a binding constitutional obligation flowing from the duties imposed under the Constitution.
The case arose from long-standing concerns over the survival of the Great Indian Bustard, a critically endangered species whose habitat spans parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat. The bird’s dwindling population has been linked to infrastructure associated with non-renewable and renewable energy projects, particularly large-scale solar installations and overhead transmission lines. A court-appointed committee had earlier examined conservation measures and recommended revised priority conservation zones and restrictions on certain power projects. These recommendations were contested by power generators operating in the affected regions.
Power generation companies opposed the committee’s proposals, expressing reservations over restrictions on solar projects exceeding 2 MW capacity and limitations on overhead transmission infrastructure. On the other hand, conservation concerns centred on the irreversible harm posed to the GIB’s habitat and the species’ heightened vulnerability due to collision risks and habitat fragmentation. The issue before the Court, therefore, extended beyond wildlife protection, touching upon the role of corporations in balancing commercial operations with environmental obligations.
The Division Bench of Justice P S Narasimha and Justice Atul S Chandurkar placed the debate within a constitutional and ethical context. The Court reminded power generators operating in both priority and non-priority areas in Rajasthan and Gujarat that they “share the environment with the GIB and must undertake their activities as if they are guests in its abode.”
Justice P S Narasimha observed that “Companies cannot assert to be socially responsible while ignoring equal claims of the environment and other beings of the ecosystem. The Constitution, under Article 51A(g), imposes a fundamental duty on every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment.... A corporation, as a legal person and a key organ of society, shares this fundamental duty. CSR funds are the tangible expression of this duty. Consequently, allocating funds for the protection of environment is not a voluntary act of charity but a fulfilment of a constitutional obligation.”
The Court further explained that CSR provisions reflect the principle that corporate profits are not the exclusive entitlement of shareholders but are partly owed to the society that facilitates their generation. It also characterised the protection of the Great Indian Bustard as a shared cultural responsibility, noting that the species symbolises “the unique natural heritage and resilience of the arid landscapes.”
Accepting the recommendations of the court-appointed committee, the Apex Court approved revised priority conservation areas measuring 14,013 square kilometres in Rajasthan and 740 square kilometres in Gujarat. It also cleared the committee’s recommendation imposing a blanket prohibition on the installation of solar projects above 2 MW capacity and the laying of overhead transmission lines within designated conservation zones. In doing so, the Court firmly placed environmental preservation, particularly of endangered species like the GIB, within the constitutional and statutory understanding of corporate social responsibility.
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