DiaNuke.org

A careful reading of the May 6, 2013 judgement from the Apex Court shows the need for a review and recall by a larger bench of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court’s verdict on Koodankulam in a public interest litigation rests on three highly contestable premises: the judges’ belief in the indispensability of nuclear energy for India’s progress, their faith in the country’s nuclear establishment despite its appalling past record, and the judges’ notion of the larger public interest,Read More

I have somehow never shared this faith in the judicial process. Maybe it is the anarchist in me but I have always been sceptical of the wisdom of the judges. Two recent judgements of the Supreme Court in cases related to nuclear matters have only reinforced this scepticism. I have seriously begun to doubt, if the honourable judges do read and understand their own judgements. To illustrate my point let us consider the judgement in the case of G. Sundarrajan vs The Union of India & others (The Koodankulam case)

The Supreme Court’s verdict rests on three hugely contested premises: the judges’ belief in the necessity of the nuclear energy for India’s progress, their faith in the country’s nuclear establishment to perform its role, and the judges’ notion of the larger public interest and the apprehensions of small sections which should make way for the country’s progress. Not only have the judges given judicial sanctity to these contestable propositions, but have also completely overlooked the Koodankulam-specific brazen violations of the government’s own norms, raised by the petitioners.