About Public Trust Doctrine:
- It is a legal principle asserting that the government acts as the custodian of certain natural resources for the benefit of the public.
- It rests on the principle that certain resources have such great importance to the people as a whole that it would be wholly unjustified to make them a subject of private ownership.
- Rooted in Roman law and developed through English common law, this doctrine encompasses various public assets such as tidal waters, lakes, rivers, wetlands, and ecosystems.
- It imposes an obligation on the state to act as a trustee of natural resources.
- The public is considered the owner of the resources, and the government protects and maintains these resources for the public’s use.
- It guarantees that everyone has access to essential resources, which benefits society as a whole.
- Three types of restrictions on governmental authority are often thought to be imposed by the public trust:
- the property subject to the trust must not only be used for a public purpose, but it must be held available for use by the general public;
- the property may not be sold, even for a fair cash equivalent;
- the property must be maintained for particular types of uses.
- It has emerged as a vital environmental and constitutional principle in India, ensuring the protection and preservation of natural resources for public use.
- The Supreme Court held that the principle of the public trust is a part of the Indian legal system.
- Supreme Court accepted that as far as “trusteeship” is concerned, there is not any doubt that the State is the holder of all natural resources in a fiduciary relationship with the public.
