PIL challenges nuclear civil liability law in SC

Two NGOs and prominent ex-bureaucrats on Friday moved a PIL in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of nuclear civil liability law and sought a comprehensive safety review of all nuclear installations in the country by an independent expert group. NGOs ‘Common Cause’ and Centre for Public Interest Litigation along with other petitioners, including former cabinet secretary T S R Subramaniam, former power secretary E A S Sarma and former CEC T Gopalaswami requested the court to cancel clearances given to proposed nuclear power plants till safety assessment was carried out.
They said the government was planning to import of nuclear plants and equipment worth billions of dollars from select foreign companies through negotiations without proper technical evaluation. “The Civil Liability of Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, by capping the liability of operators and by making suppliers not liable, violates the polluter pays principle and the ‘absolute liability’ principle which have been recognized as part of the law of the land under Article 21 of the Constitution and puts to grave and imminent risk the right to safety, health, environment and life of the people of India guaranteed by the Constitution,” they said.