The adoption of sustainable development goals by 193 countries, including India, in
September 2015 marked another turning point in the environmental history of nations, as
governments moved beyond the Millennium Development Goals to set new benchmarks for
human well-being. The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India aptly captures the spirit of this shift
when it says, ‘The traditional concept that development and ecology are opposed to each
other is no longer acceptable’. The precautionary principle, the polluter pays principle, and
the concept of sustainable development were all made part of the basic right regime under
Article 21 of the Indian Constitution by the Supreme Court in this decision. As a result, it is
evident that the international commitment, as well as the idea of sustainable development, is
an integral part of Indian law, and that the SDGs must be viewed as more than just an
international commitment. The critical question is whether or not international goals
supported by judicial sanctity have resulted in the specifics of an executive framework to
meet the SDGs. The SDG Goal 16 ‘Peace, Justice and Institutions’ aims to ‘Promote peaceful
and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
The first step toward achieving any part of the 2030 sustainable development goal agenda
will be to restore security and human rights to people whose lives and basic freedoms are
being jeopardised by direct violence or institutionalised injustice. Many of the nations that
failed to meet their Millennium Development Goals by 2015 were afflicted by armed conflict
and instability. If there is no feeling of stability, peace, assurance of effective governance, or
protection of human rights, achieving the final aim is practically difficult. All this, and more,
is possible only through the rule of law. The member nations major attention should now be on defining and/or modifying national and international policies, as well as ensuring their proper implementation. Particular attention should be paid to places where conflict and
violent cycles persist. Because instability and (armed) violence wreak havoc on a country
development, leading to a state rife with crimes including sexual violence, exploitation, and
torture, adopting Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions as one of the SDGs was
indispensable.
INDIA'S PERSPECTIVE ON PEACE, JUSTICE, AND STRONGER INSTITUTIONS
THE RULE OF LAW
Equality before the law has been a central notion from the origin of the concept of
justice, and it can only be achieved through effective governance and warranted; rule
of law. The World Justice Project, an independent organization, rated India 69t
h out of 128 nations on the Global Rule of Law Index 2020, implying that measures
are being made to weaken the rule of law in India. Corruption, Fundamental Rights,
Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice, and Criminal Justice are the categories on
which the aforementioned agency bases its rating. Extrajudicial executions are a clear
violation of the rule of law, and India has seen its fair number of them in recent years
(Ref: the infamous Bhopal jail encounter and Telangana encounter). Another instance
of a threat to the rule of law occurred when Google and Facebook revealed that the
government had requested information on their users accounts. According to the
National Judicial Data Grid, there is a massive backlog of civil and criminal cases,
with more than 96 lakh civil cases pending in district and taluka courts and over 36
lakhs in high courts. After all these years, excessive delay in filing the FIR and
conducting a half-hearted investigation remain a plague in the criminal justice system.
ANSWERABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Simply said, accountability refers to the responsibility and accountability of
authorities and power holders for their acts and/or behaviour. The term derives from a
feeling of’ moral necessity and it is relational in that it affects both individuals who
act and those who are impacted. It is absolutely necessary for any and all social
systems to function. It is widely known that India's government suffers from a
significant lack of accountability; combine that with a blame-game, and you have a
recipe for a destructive economy. The current situation is due to the fact that the
framework for ensuring policymakers external responsibility is inadequate, and the
policy-making process is also protected by internal accountability. As a result, the
public has no access to information about how (or on what basis) decisions are made.
EFFICACY OF GOVERNANCE
Citizens all across the world look up to the states and its organs high-quality
functioning. It also enables optimum investment returns. That is what effective
administration is all about. The state strives for empowerment, fairness, full
employment, and top-notch service delivery to its residents via good and effective
government. The Government of India has taken a number of actions that highlight its
efforts to be a more effective government, such as the National E-Governance Plan,
which was created with the goal of making all government-provided services
available to every person of the country through electronic media. Minimum
Government, Maximum Governance is also the plan motto. Make in India Start-up India and the Skill India Mission among many others, are examples of such programs/plans.
A COMPREHENSIVE SOCIETY
A society should be inclusive of all classes, genders, and races, guaranteeing full
involvement in all spheres and domains. What social beings desire is to have a sense
of belonging and acceptance inside their societies. In fact, according to the New
Brunswick Association for Community Living, social involvement is a key aspect in
the determination of health. India does not appear to be as inclusive—a society—as
it professes to be, with an estimated 300 million people living in poverty, 273 million
illiterates, and 40% of the world's undernourished children. According to the 2017
World Economic Forum report, India is rated 60th out of 79 emerging economies in
the Inclusive Development Index. Surprisingly, just 6% of the poor have access to
running water, compared to 33% of the non-poor. To make matters worse, just 21% of
the poor have access to latrines, compared to 62 percent of the non-poor. The figures
contribute to the conclusion that India is far behind in terms of meeting the UN's
criteria for an inclusive society.
With the world's biggest elected democracy, India has the potential to develop in leaps and
bounds. To make peace and justice available to all and reasonable to even the lowest of the
poor, ground-breaking innovations are required on several fronts. Furthermore, the devotion
and quality of public officials have a significant impact on the nation's success. India has
been a force to be reckoned with in the quest to become a superpower for decades, but this
goal will only come true if the leaders bring everyone along, not just a handful.
REFERENCES:
1) https://ris.org.in/pdf/SDGs_Report_Chapter_16.pdf
2) https://www.thewokelawyer.org/post/sdg-16-india-the-journey-so-far
3) http://www.businessworld.in/article/A-Vision-Of-India-s-Future/13-01-2017-111389/
4) https://indianfolk.com/can-make-india-
inclusive/#:~:text=India%20has%20been%20ranked%2060th,a%20%20WEF%20report
%20of%202017.
5) https://www.in.undp.org/content/india/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-
16-peace-justice-a%20nd-strong-institutions.html/
About the author,
Apoorva K
I semester BA,LLB (hons)
School of legal studies, CMR University, Bangalore
Research intern at Stambh organisation.
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