Directing all states to include environment as a subject in school and college syllabi from next academic year, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the National Council for Education, Research and Training to frame a model syllabus in this regard for implementation in India.

A bench comprising Justice N Santosh Hegde and Justice B P Singh passed the order on a petition filed by environmentalist advocate M C Mehta.

The petition said that though the apex court had directed in 1991 to include environment as a subject in the syllabi, none of the states implemented the 12-year-old order so far.

The court asked all states to ensure full implementation of the 1991 order of the court from the 2004-05 academic year and directed them to take strict disciplinary action against any institution found non-complying with the same.

The bench asked NCERT to submit the syllabus before the court on or before April 14 next year for scrutiny and, if found suitable, for uniform application through out the country.

In a far-reaching order delivered on November 22, 1991, the Supreme Court had directed University Grants Commission to prescribe a course on environment in the graduation and post-graduation level and consider feasibility of making this a compulsory subject at every level in college education.