The Legal Personhood of Non-Human Entities in India

Words by Kavita Mohanty

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These special 1980s ‘Air India’ playing cards were once a part of Air India's inflight complimentary items, especially on long haul flights, and are now a rare collector's item. Air India was seen as a prime example of genius marketing in the mid-20th century, earning the company a myriad of advertising awards and a loyal legion of fans. While the Maharaja remains Air India’s mascot to this day, he is most fondly remembered worldwide for his role in India’s golden age of advertising. (Available now)

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The Legal Personhood of Non-Human Entities in India

Image of the Ganga River (January 8, 2005 by Babasteve)

The Ganga River, also known as the Ganges, is one of the most revered sites in Hinduism, considered by devotees to be the physical embodiment of the goddess Ganga. For Hindus, bathing in the Ganga is a profound ritual, believed to offer salvation and liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. Similarly, the Yamuna River, a significant tributary of the Ganga, is venerated as the goddess Yamuna’s physical form, holding deep spiritual importance.

Despite their sacred status, both rivers suffer from severe pollution. Industrial waste and poor civic management have contaminated these vast waterways to such an extent that sustaining life within them has become nearly impossible. The Yamuna, in particular, has earned the grim designation of a “dead river.” Although laws exist to prevent the dumping of harmful substances, enforcement is lax, and accountability is virtually nonexistent. Efforts to restore these rivers to their former purity have repeatedly failed.

In an unprecedented move to address the extreme pollution, the state government of Uttarakhand granted the Ganga, the Yamuna, and other natural resources legal personhood in 2017. This decision aligned with a growing global trend of extending legal rights to non-human entities. However, the Indian Supreme Court later overturned this ruling. Despite this setback, the Uttarakhand court’s decision remains a significant milestone, offering a glimpse into a future where natural resources and animals might be granted legal personhood.

But what does it mean to “grant legal personhood” to non-human beings, and why is this necessary?