The Supreme Court said it cannot enter into arena of the nation’s foreign policy.
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking to restrain India and Indian companies from supplying arms and military aid to Israel for its war in Gaza.The top court said it cannot enter into arena of the nation’s foreign policy. “Indian firms involved in export of arms to Israel may be sued for breach of contractual obligations if it puts a hold on export,” the Supreme Court said.The top court bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra were hearing a petition filed by Ashok Kumar Sharma and others through lawyer Prashant Bhushan seeking a direction to the Centre to cancel licences and not to grant new ones to Indian firms exporting arms and other military equipment to Israel.
The petitioners alleged that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and hence the Indian arms exports would amount to a violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
According to the website, the top court noted that for engagement in foreign affairs, the Union government has the authority and jurisdiction. It also observed that to grant the reliefs sought by the petitioners, the Supreme Court will have to enter into findings on the allegations against Israel, which is an independent sovereign nation and not subject to the jurisdiction of the Indian courts. “Can we direct that under the UN’s genocide convention you ban the export to Israel…why this restraint. This is because it impacts the foreign policy and we do not know what the impact will be,” CJI Chandrachud said.
India and Israel are close strategic partners, with growing collaboration in cutting edge defence technologies and military hardware. Israel supplies counter-terrorism equipment, including surveillance and cyber security systems, to India. Israel’s war on Gaza has led to killings of thousands of Palestinians. Prior to this, in an unprecedented attack, Hamas gunmen stormed across Gaza’s border into Israel and killed about 1,200 people on October 7, 2023.
