G. Sundarrajan v.

UOI and others

facts
•In 2011, GOI was
taking steps to
commission Units I
and Unit II of KNKPP.
•Judicial proceedings
filed in the Madras
High Court
demanding fresh
and transparent
review of the project
 Madras High Court
• The maintainability of petitions in Madras
High Court was vehemently rebutted by the
Department of Atomic Energy and Atomic
Energy Regulatory Board and NPCIL on the
ground that it was matter of India’s national
policy and the courts could not interfere in
such a subject.
• The court clarified that India’s national policy
was visibly represented or rather
unequivocally expressed by the legislature in
the Atomic Energy Act.
 Supreme Court
• Government of India’s decision to establish the
NPP at Kudankulam, as already stated, cannot be
questioned before this Court being part of a
National Policy.
• these issues are to be addressed to policy
makers, not to courts because the destiny of a
nation is shaped by the people’s representatives
and not by a handful of judges, unless there is an
attempt to tamper with the fundamental
Constitutional principles or basic structure of the
Constitution.
• We are however deeply concerned with the
safety and security of the people of this
country, its environment, its flora and fauna,
its marine life, ecology, bio-diversity and so
on.
• Safety and security of the people and the
nation are of paramount importance when a
nuclear plant is being set up and it is vital to
have in place all safety standards.
• KKNPP is designed and engineered to the state of art of
nuclear reactors in line with the current international
safety requirements and principles. KK site related
aspects such as seismic, tsunami, tropical storms are
taken into consideration at design stage.
• based on the advanced design safety features, safe
grade level and high elevation of safety related
equipment and the fact that all key operating
personnel are graduate engineers who also receive
intensive training, it is not conceivable that any
accident of these types can take place at KKNPP.
• all applicable safety aspects of the project
have been subjected to careful scrutiny by the
concerned statutory bodies in the country.
• In particular, safety of KKNPP has been
thoroughly evaluated against external events
of natural origin viz., earthquakes and possible
flooding of the site from cyclonic storms and
tsunamis.
• We, therefore, fully endorse the view taken by
the Division Bench of the High Court, however,
in the facts and circumstances of the case, we
are inclined to give the following directions: