BLUE CONSTITUTIONALISM IN INDIA: RECOGNISING THE RIGHTS OF OCEAN UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

The dialogue on environmental justice, which corresponds with India's 75th anniversary of
implementing its constitution, recommends a critical revisiting of the way the constitutional
principles integrate with contemporary international norms that recognize the fundamental
rights of nature. Knowing that the ocean is crucial to the nation's economy, tradition, and
coastal lifestyles, it is somehow undervalued in the law among the world's natural entities. The
paper examines, in regard to accomplishments in international law, the critical importance of
acknowledging the ocean's legal and ecological rights as an approach for fostering
constitutional environmental justice throughout India.
Despite the Articles 21, 48A, and 51A(g) under the Indian Constitution's constitute an
authoritative basis for safeguarding the environment, these provisions are still predominantly
anthropocentric in nature. A universal transition into ecocentric governance has been expressed
in many international conventions like the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS, 1982) and the UN General Assembly Resolution (2022) on right to an environment
that is healthy, safe, and sustainable. Numerous international instruments indicate that the
ocean has become an ecological community wholly vital to the wellness of the world in
addition to its status as a resource.
The constitutional protection of that nature's rights in Ecuador, the legally recognized
personhood of the Whanganui River as a river in New Zealand, and recent legal developments
in Bangladesh and Colombia have all been investigated in the current research through a
comparative approach. While rivers play a role in these instances, oceans may benefit as well
on the fundamental notions of legal personhood, protective authority, and ecocentric rights.
With the objective to safeguard marine ecosystems, this research proposes "Blue
Constitutionalism" a system of law that brings together constitutional commitments with
international commitments. The recognition of the oceans as a legally recognized personality
could make India a pioneer in governance of the oceans around the globe, uphold
intergenerational parity, and further strengthen India's constitutional principle of social justice.
Key words: Ocean Rights, Environmental Justice, Blue Constitutionalism, International
Law, Indian Constitution, UNCLOS, Ecocentrism.