Ten Indian states have been pulled up by the Supreme Court (SC) for neglecting its orders on the inclusion of environment as a subject in school curricula. Those reprimanded are Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa and Jharkhand. A bench comprising Justice N Santosh Hegde and Justice B P Singh has slapped a fine of Rs 15,000 each on these states.

On July 21 this year, the SC sent notices to states, union territories and apex education bodies responsible for preparing school and college syllabuses. It was responding to an application filed by environmentalist-lawyer M C Mehta, who had alleged non-implementation of a November 1991 SC order. As per that directive, the apex court had asked every state government in the country to make environment a compulsory subject in all schools and colleges, and demanded compliance by the 1992-93 academic year.