Centre for Public Interest Litigation filed a writ petition before the Supreme Court demanding the declaration that the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, in Tirunelveli district, would be governed by the law of the land.

   The petitioner wants the the law of the land, as laid down by the Supreme Court: the ‘absolute liability’ and ‘polluter pays’ principle, to be applied to the plant.

   “The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, channels the liability of a nuclear accident to the operator (government undertaking) of the said plant and then limits it to Rs 1, 500 crore. The cap on liability will have a severe impact on the safety of nuclear installations, said the petition filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation; Common Cause; the former Power Secretary, EAS Sarma; and G Sundarrajan, a social activist from Tamil Nadu.

   Though the… Act imposes a very minimal liability on the nuclear reactor supplier/manufacturer [putting the safety of the plants to a grave risk] in violation of the ‘polluter pays’ and ‘absolute liability’ principle, the government of India has made the Russian company exempt from even this minimal liability by giving an undertaking that the Indian public exchequer and taxpayers would foot the bill in case of an accident, and Russians would be indemnified, the petition contended.

   This undertaking had “dangerous implications.” Any action of the executive entailing expenditure from the exchequer (in the event of a nuclear accident, this would run into lakhs of crores) would need parliamentary approval.