SC notice on Kudankulam liability exemption

The Supreme Court on Thursday told the Centre to respond if it had exempted the Russian company involved in setting up the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant from paying any damage in case of an accident.

A bench of Justices K S Radhakrishanan and Dipak Misra sought response of the government within three weeks while hearing the petition filed by a group of NGOs and activists, raising the issue of safety and environment concerns of the plant.

It said: “We want to know if the disaster management plan is in place. We also want to know the role of statutory authority,” the Bench said.

The court also decided to tag along a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Nuclear Liability Law in which notice was already issued on March 16.

The court issued notice to the Centre and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) on the petition seeking direction that the nuclear suppliers of the Kudankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu would be bound by the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, irrespective of any agreement or undertaking to the contrary.