Makes clear that 17 safety measures are additional, not a condition precedent

Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati asserted in the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant was absolutely safe and all apprehensions on safety of the plant were completely baseless. Making this submission before a Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra, Mr. Vahanvati also made it clear that it was not a condition precedent that all the 17 safety measures to be implemented before the plant was put into operation.

Cauvery River Authority's refusal to review water release order

The Karnataka Government has moved the Supreme Court challenging Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s decision as Chairperson of the Cauvery River Authority refusing to review his order directing Karnataka to release 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu from September 20 to October 15. In its special leave petition, Karnataka maintained that the CRA by an order dated October 11 had rejected the plea to review the order on the ground that the review petition was not maintainable.

Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko on Tuesday strongly pleaded in the Supreme Court for a permanent closure of the copper smelting plant of Sterlite Industries at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu.

He made this submission before a Bench of Justices A.K. Patnaik and H.L. Gokhale, hearing an appeal filed by Sterlite Industries against a Madras High Court judgment directing closure of the plant. The Court in October 2010 had stayed the judgment and is now in the process of final hearing of the case.

Strictly adhere to National Tourism Conservation Authority guidelines, says court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday lifted the ban on tourist activities in core areas of tiger reserve forests. This follows Additional Solicitor-General Indira Jaising’s submission that on October 15 the government notified the revised guidelines for the 41 tiger reserves to be followed by States. A Bench of Justices A.K. Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar said: “This court passed an order on July 24 that till final guidelines are issued, core areas won’t be used for tourism. Now that the National Tourism Conservation Authority [NTCA] has notified the comprehensive guidelines under the Wildlife Act for tourism in and around tiger reserves, we modify the interim order and direct that henceforth tourism activities will be strictly in accordance with the guidelines.”

People have to go hungry for paying the medicine bill, says Judge

Kudankulam plant must be governed by constitutional principles of absolute liability and ‘polluter pays’

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to the Centre on a writ petition seeking a direction that the Kudankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu not commissioned without resolving Russia’s liability in case of a nuclear accident. A Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra granted the Centre three weeks to respond to the petition by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, Common Cause, the former Union Power Secretary E.A.S. Sarma and social activist from Tamil Nadu G. Sundarrajan.

Contending that Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shivappa Shettar and six others had brazenly and wilfully disobeyed the September 28 order to release 9,000 cusecs of water, the Tamil Nadu Government on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against them.

Besides the Chief Minister, others against whom contempt action is sought are: Basavaraj S. Bommai, Minister of Water Resources; S.V. Ranganath, Chief Secretary; D. Satya Murty, Secretary, Water Resources Department;

Pulls up the Centre, U.P., Haryana and Delhi for the mess

The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed serious concern over the worsening quality of water in the Yamuna due to high level of pollution though over Rs 1,800 crores had been spent to contain pollution. A Bench of Justices Swatanter Kumar and Madan B. Lokur, hearing a petition relating to Yamuna water said, “It is unfortunate that huge amount of public funds are spent without showing any improvement in water quality.”

Court asks Centre to spell out its stand

The Supreme Court has appointed an expert committee to go into all aspects of the ban on endosulfan and the disposal of the existing quantity of the pesticide. The court has asked the Centre to spell out its stand on the manufacture and use of endosulfan in the country.

A Bench comprising Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice Madan B. Lokur, hearing a writ petition filed by the Democratic Youth Federation of India on Tuesday, said the committee to be headed by the Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) would have the Member-Secretary of the Centre Pollution Control Board, two scientists, and the Joint Secretary of Plant Protection from the Agriculture Ministry on it.

Even as Karnataka made clear that it would be “physically impossible” for it to release water anymore to Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court told the State on Monday that “all these agitations [in Karnataka against water release] don’t serve any purpose. Sometimes, they may spoil a good case.”

After hearing senior counsel Fali Nariman, appearing for Karnataka, a Bench of Justices D.K. Jain and Madan B. Lokur asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, chairperson of the Cauvery River Authority (CRA), to decide on Karnataka’s application for a review of the CRA’s September 19 order that the State release 9,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu daily from September 20 to October 15.