Chandigarh, March 8 -- Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Saturday asserted that environmental safeguards are non-negotiable but judiciary doesn't need to work with a "tunnel vision". Addressing judges and lawyers at the launch of a library dedicated to former Supreme Court judge justice Kuldeep Singh, also referred to as "green judge", at the Punjab and Haryana high court, the CJI said that we must remember the economic context in which justice Singh gave judgments on environmental issues. In late 90s and 80s, India was entering in a phase of industrialisation and liberalisation and judiciary had genuine apprehension that growth and infrastructure may come at the cost of rivers, forest and air, he said. "..at that time environmental regulations were still relatively new, impact assessments, public hearings were not as much robust as they are today. In that setting a strong rights based environmental jurisprudence was not only natural but necessary. It served as a counterweight to the unregulatory exploitation," the CJI recalled adding that now India is fifth largest economy, population has grown sharply and aspirations have multiplied but quantum of the natural resources is broadly the same. Hence, the challenge before the judiciary now is slightly different. The judiciary must continue to serve as constitutional sentinel in matters of environment at the same time our role is not to impede policy choices, he added. "..we cannot afford a tunnel vision that treats every project as a suspect nor can we afford a complacent vision that treats environmental safeguards as negotiable. Our task is to move from a purely reactive model to a mature environmental governance model that integrates environmental safeguards into the very design of the development," the CJI said, adding that now judiciary role is to ensure that environmental laws are followed with seriousness and feudality while recognising that sustainable development remains integral part of constitutional vision. The CJI asserted that justice Kuldip Singh introduced and strengthened key environmental doctrines such as the "polluter pays" and "precautionary" principles, which became foundational to environmental governance in the country and remain firmly entrenched in the legal system. Building on that foundation, environmental protection has now progressed beyond merely imposing liability after pollution, with courts increasingly asking whether every reasonable step was taken to avoid environmental harm in the first place, the CJI said adding that the constitutional approach today demands proactive environmental responsibility rather than post-damage liability. "The principle has gone beyond merely saying that if you pollute you will pay. Rather now we ask - have you done everything reasonably possible to avoid polluting in the first place itself?" he said, adding that now the project proponents have to take preventive safeguards, face continuous regulatory mechanism and have to undergo greater transparency so that post project implantation harms are minimised....