The demand for greater community control over natural resources have been profound in recent decades in Nepal and beyond. These demands go together with calls for social justice, which remains a coveted goal in the struggles over resources and development. However, social justice remains an elusive idea in regard to what it is and how it can be achieved in societies characterized by inequalities based on caste, ethnicity, class and gender. Accordingly, it is far from clear what specific policy and legal provisions work well in particular historical, social and political contexts. This article surveys the theoretical debate of social justice generally, and the way it helps understand local peoples’ experiences and claims around natural resources and development projects. Drawing upon the literature, it highlights the pluralist framework of social justice in terms of the ideas of redistribution, recognition and participation, and employs that framework for the analysis of three diverse cases from in Nepal: a) hydropower project development in Lamjung, b) rights of fishing communities in Kailali, and c) programon reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). The analysis shows that, while Nepal’s constitution and political rhetoric acknowledges the rights and entitlements to disadvantaged groups, it has not abetted the need for local struggles for resource access and control. Broad policy announcements lack follow-through measures and tools, where more attention will be needed in order for a more socially just resourcegovernance and development.