Question

According to Environmental (Protection) Act of 1986 "environmental pollutant" means

• A. any solid, liquid or gaseous substance present in such concentration as may be, or tend to be, injurious to environment;
• B. any substance present in such concentration as may be, or tend to be, injurious to environment
• C. any solid, liquid or gaseous substance present in such concentration as may be, or tend to be, injurious to a person
• D. any solid, liquid or gaseous substance present in such concentration as may be, or tend to be, injurious to the society

Hint:

When studying any statute, pay close attention to the 'Definitions' section (usually Section 2). The specific wording of definitions is crucial as it clarifies the scope and meaning of key terms used throughout the Act and is a common source for questions.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The question asks for the specific definition of the term "environmental pollutant" as provided in the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. This requires knowledge of the definitions section of the statute.
Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
The relevant statutory provision is Section 2(b) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
Section 2(b): `"environmental pollutant" means any solid, liquid or gaseous substance present in such concentration as may be, or tend to be, injurious to environment;`
Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
Comparing the definition from the Act with the given options:
- Option (A) is an exact match of the definition provided in Section 2(b) of the Act.
- Option (B) is similar but less precise as it omits the form of the substance (solid, liquid, or gaseous).
- Option (C) and (D) are incorrect because they limit the injurious effect to a "person" or "society," whereas the Act uses the much broader term "environment." The environment itself includes water, air, land, and the interrelationship which exists among and between water, air and land, and human beings, other living creatures, plants, micro-organism and property. So, injury to the environment is a much wider concept.
Step 4: Final Answer:
The definition that correctly reflects the text of the Act is option (A).

Answer 2

Questions like this one are really asking you to reproduce a definition section word for word, so the safest method is to compare each option against the statute clause by clause rather than trust a general memory of what a pollutant means.

1. Any solid, liquid or gaseous substance present in such concentration as may be, or tend to be, injurious to environment: This matches Section 2(b) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, word for word. It correctly names all three physical states a pollutant can take, solid, liquid, gaseous, and correctly identifies the environment, not a person or society, as what is harmed.
2. Any substance present in such concentration as may be, or tend to be, injurious to environment: This gets the injurious-to-environment part right but drops the phrase "solid, liquid or gaseous". The Act is deliberately specific about the physical form of the substance, so leaving that phrase out makes this a weaker, incomplete version of the real definition rather than the definition itself.
3. Any solid, liquid or gaseous substance present in such concentration as may be, or tend to be, injurious to a person: This keeps the correct list of physical states but swaps environment for a person. That changes the entire scope of the definition, since a pollutant under this Act is defined by its effect on the environment as a whole, which itself covers water, air, land and living things, not narrowly by harm to one individual.
4. Any solid, liquid or gaseous substance present in such concentration as may be, or tend to be, injurious to the society: Same issue as option (C), just with society substituted for environment. The statute does not use either a person or society in this definition; it uses environment, which is itself separately and broadly defined elsewhere in Section 2(a) of the Act.

Since only one option reproduces both the physical-state list and the correct object of harm exactly as the Act states them, that is the one that matches the statute.

So the correct answer is any solid, liquid or gaseous substance present in such concentration as may be, or tend to be, injurious to environment.