The Supreme Court on Monday stated that if a viable proposal for a nuclear regulatory authority was brought before it after a public debate, it might recommend the suggestions to the government. But it declined to go beyond that.
“The Supreme Court will remain Supreme Court; not Parliament or government,” a bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia said while hearing a petition demanding an independent agency to study the safety of the nuclear plants in the country. The hearing was adjourned for four weeks.
Common Cause, an NGO, moved a petition alleging that the nuclear plants in the country like that in Tarapur are outdated and the country was “sitting on a time bomb”. Common Cause counsel Prashant Bhushan said that even experts like Dr A Gopalakrishnan have written several times about the dangers of the nuclear plants.
He said that the proposed composition of the nuclear regulatory authority was ineffective as the government appointed them, had the power to remove them and it could withhold evidence from the authority. It has no functional autonomy.
The judges asked Bhushan to show how the other nuclear powers are ensuring the safety of the nuclear establishments.
Though counsels stated that they have better and independent regulators, judges wanted the original regulatory rules so that they could serve as models for this country.
They said that they were “fully conscious of the problem, but are not experts in this field." Therefore, the petitioner-organisation should produce before the court a proper structure to deal with the danger. This should be done before Parliament makes the law, the judges said.