Question

Which of the following Articles of the Constitution of India forms the primary legislative basis for the Parliament enacting the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981?

• A. Article 253
• B. Article 252
• C. Article 233
• D. None of the above

Hint:

Whenever an environmental statute is linked to the Stockholm Conference, Rio Summit, Paris Agreement, or any international convention, immediately think of: \[ \boxed{\text{Article 253}} \] This is Parliament's treaty-implementation power.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Another way to approach this is to focus on why Parliament, and not the State Legislatures, was competent to pass a law like the Air Act at all, since environmental control over air quality can otherwise touch on local and State subjects.

1. Article 233: Concerns judicial appointments, not legislative competence over any subject matter, so it has no bearing on why Parliament could pass the Air Act.
2. Article 252: Would only apply if the States themselves had asked Parliament to legislate through consenting resolutions; that is not how the Air Act came about, since it was passed to discharge an international obligation rather than at the request of State Legislatures.
3. Article 253: Specifically overrides the usual division of legislative subjects between the Union and the States whenever Parliament is implementing an international treaty or convention. Because India's participation in the 1972 Stockholm Conference created an international commitment to control air pollution, Article 253 gave Parliament the constitutional competence to legislate on the subject nationally, even though environmental and public health matters can otherwise touch State jurisdiction.
4. None of the above: Not applicable, since Article 253 directly supplies the needed competence.

Since the Air Act's legislative competence rests on Parliament's power to implement an international commitment rather than on State consent or an unrelated judicial provision, the correct answer is Article 253.

Answer 2

Tracing the actual legislative history of the Air Act also confirms the answer, since the Act's background points directly to one constitutional source.

1. Historical background: India took part in the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held at Stockholm in 1972 and undertook commitments there to address environmental degradation, including air pollution. Parliament then had to translate those international commitments into domestic law.
2. Article 253: This is the specific constitutional hook that allows Parliament to convert an international commitment made at a conference like Stockholm into binding domestic legislation, even where the underlying subject would normally sit with the States. The Air Act's own legislative history explicitly traces back to this power.
3. Article 252: Has nothing to do with implementing decisions taken at international conferences; it is a purely domestic mechanism for inter-State delegation of legislative power by consent, which is not how the Air Act originated.
4. Article 233: Belongs to a completely different part of the Constitution dealing with the judiciary and has no connection to environmental legislation or treaty implementation.
5. None of the above: Incorrect, since the historical record points squarely to Article 253 as the enabling provision.

Since the Air Act's own origin lies in Parliament converting India's Stockholm Conference commitments into law, and Article 253 is the provision that allows exactly that, the correct answer is Article 253.