Kudankulam plant: PIL in Supreme Court to make supplier liable for damage

NEW DELHI: A fresh PIL was filed in the Supreme Court on Monday, by activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan, seeking to enforce liability of the supplier or makers of the plant in case of a nuclear mishap at the Kudankulam plant.

The PIL claims that the agreement to set up the nuclear plant at Kudankulam could not have completely excluded the liability of the supplier/manufacturer. Even the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, caps the liability at Rs 1,500 crore, it pointed out.

But this minimum liability had also been waived in the case of Kudankulam, the PIL alleged. This is against the principles of "polluter pays" and "absolute liability principles" evolved by the courts over the years to make polluting parties pay, the PIL said. A Russian company is building the two reactors at Kudankulam.

It also alleges that the government has so far refused to share the details of its agreement with Russia with the public and urges the court to direct that at least the cap of Rs 1,500 crore laid down in the Nuclear Liability Bill should apply in this case too.

The government, it said, has exempted the Russian company from even this minimal liability by giving an undertaking to the Russian government that the Indian public exchequer and the Indian taxpayers would foot the bill in case of an accident and the Russian company would be indemnified.

This is the second petition relating to Kudankulam filed in the Supreme Court.