India's Ganga and Yamuna rivers as legal persons
Identification
- Public canonical key
- doi:10.4324/9781003581208-4
- Authors
- Axel Borchgrevink · Kavita Upadhyay
- Reported year
- 2026
- Reported language
- en
- Source type
- book-chapter
- First detected
- 2026-11-09T19:04:47.861024+00:00
- Last metadata observation
- 2026-11-09T19:04:47.861024+00:00
- Last HTTP verification
- Not checked
Documentary abstract — original language
This chapter explores the 2017 orders by the Uttarakhand High Court in India that declared the Ganga and Yamuna rivers, and nature in Uttarakhand state, as legal entities with the rights, duties and liabilities of a living person. The rulings responded to the deteriorated state of the Ganga and Yamuna rivers and the environment in general, drawing upon the rivers’ religious significance for Hindus and a broader environmentalist ethos. However, the rulings were stayed by the Supreme Court and remain suspended. The radical decision of giving personhood to rivers and nature was not asked for in any petitions, nor did it connect logically with the claims of these cases or seem particularly relevant for the environmental concerns of Uttarakhand, and they were made without any firm grounding in civil society activism or support from the state and its bureaucracy. The court orders, which were inspired by legal personhood cases in Aotearoa New Zealand, must be understood in the context of legal activism and public interest litigation in India. The chapter critically discusses issues of jurisdiction, the way guardianship for rivers and nature is set up, the grounding in Hindu values and the risks of the judgments conflicting with human rights.
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.4324/9781003581208-4
- OPENALEX
- W7125474934
Documentary context
- Documentary family
- Book chapter
- Source-reported types
- book-chapter
- Jurisdictions studied — explicit sources
- IN
- Natural entities mentioned
- River
Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.
Book bibliographic description
Access status unknown
Sources
OpenAlex · Record 1 · Record 2
Documentary field provenance
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- Studied subject derived from explicit documentary context
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- Issuing authority
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- ISBN
- Not recorded
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- Not recorded
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- Source-reported status
- Not recorded
- Amendment / repeal
- Not recorded
Cite this reference
Axel Borchgrevink; Kavita Upadhyay. India's Ganga and Yamuna rivers as legal persons. 2026. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003581208-4
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APA, Chicago, ISO 690: bibliographic formats using available fields. OSCOLA / Bluebook: structured data only; full legal citation compliance is not claimed without verification of required elements.
- APA
- Axel Borchgrevink; Kavita Upadhyay. (2026). India's Ganga and Yamuna rivers as legal persons. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003581208-4
- Chicago
- Axel Borchgrevink; Kavita Upadhyay. India's Ganga and Yamuna rivers as legal persons. 2026. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003581208-4
- ISO 690
- Axel Borchgrevink; Kavita Upadhyay. India's Ganga and Yamuna rivers as legal persons. 2026. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003581208-4
UDTR Global Rights of Nature Legal Library. India's Ganga and Yamuna rivers as legal persons. Documentary record: https://www.declarationuniverselledesdroitsdelarbre.org/global-rights-of-nature-radar/reference/r-eef3ea2282e88c7a8db48a2770f9dd42/ · Last HTTP verification: not performed
Field provenance and record version
Version d83cfa136e196c37 · udtr-reference-1.1.2
- Title
- OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.861024+00:00
- Authors
- OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.861024+00:00
- Year
- OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.861024+00:00
- Identifiers
- OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.861024+00:00
- Source URL
- OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.861024+00:00
History tracks record metadata and does not certify the state of the law.
f38ac761f4b94802 · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.861024+00:00
ed9f9121750892e9 · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.861024+00:00
780f653b29e07206 · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.861024+00:00
d83cfa136e196c37 · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.861024+00:00
Research dossiers and documentary relations
IN ·
Source roles
Discovery source · https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003581208-4
Discovery source · https://openalex.org/W7125474934
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