Courts are often called upon to intervene when public authorities fail. In environmental matters, such intervention can be indispensable. Depleted groundwater and polluted air affect citizens’ rights. Yet prolonged judicial involvement raises a difficult constitutional question: at what point does oversight become administration?That question lies at the heart of Haroon Farooq v. Government of Punjab & others, W.P. No. 227807/2018. The petition began with groundwater: aquifer assessment, conservation and the duties of public authorities. It also sought the appointment of commissions and a mechanism of “continuing mandamus” or “rolling review.”Judicial supervision, then, was part of the original prayer. The issue is whether its eventual scope and duration remained within the controversy brought before the Court and the limits imposed by Article 199 of the Constitution.Over roughly eight years, the proceedings came to encompass far more than groundwater. Ablution-water tanks, rainwater storage, recharge wells, smog, brick kilns, vehicle emissions, industrial pollution and housing........

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