LexASHOK KUMAR SHARMA & ORS versus UNION OF INDIA
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[2024] 9 S.C.R. 194 : 2024 INSC 674 Ashok Kumar Sharma & Ors v. Union of India (Writ Petition (Civil) No. 551 of 2024) 09 September 2024 [Dr. Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, CJI, J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, JJ.] Issue for Consideration Whether the Court under Article 32 can issue a writ to the Union Government to cancel existing licences and halt the issuance of new licences for the export of arms and military equipments to Israel. Headnotes† Constitution of India – Art. 32 – The petition seeks directions to the Union Government to cancel existing licences/permissions and to halt the grant of new licences to companies in India for the export of arms and military equipment to Israel during the ongoing conflict in Gaza: Held: First, the conduct of an independent sovereign nation namely, Israel is not and cannot be made amenable to the jurisdiction of this Court – To consider the grant of the reliefs as sought, it would inevitably become necessary to enter a finding in regard to the allegations which have been leveled by the petitioners against the State of Israel – Absent jurisdiction over a sovereign State, it would be impermissible for this Court to entertain the grant of reliefs of this nature – The second aspect of the matter which requires to be noticed is that the petition seeks a cancellation of the existing licences and prohibition on the issuance of new licences for the export of arms and military equipments by Indian companies – Some of these licenses may be governed by contracts with international entities, including within the State of Israel – The grant of injunctive relief by this Court would necessarily implicate a judicial direction for breach of international contracts and agreements – The fall out of such breaches cannot be appropriately assessed by this Court and would lay open Indian companies which have firm commitments to proceedings for damages which may affect their own financial viability – Third, the statutory provisions of our law confer sufficient power on the Union Government if it decides to [2024] 9 S.C.R. 195 Ashok Kumar Sharma & Ors v. Union of India act in such cases – For instance, prohibitions can be imposed by the Union of India under the Foreign Trade (Regulation and Development Act) as well as under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 – Whether in a given case, any such action is warranted is a matter which has to be decided by the Union Government bearing in mind economic, geo-political and other interests of the nation in the conduct of international relations – The self-imposed restraint on Courts entering into areas of foreign policy is, thus, grounded in sound rationale which has been applied across time – For the above reasons, the reliefs which have been sought in these proceedings are not amenable to the exercise of judicial remedies under Article 32 of the Constitution. [Paras 7, 8, 9, 10, 11] List of Acts Constitution of India; Foreign Trade (Regulation and Development Act); Customs Act, 1962. List of Keywords Article 32 of the Constitution of India; Sovereign nation; Licenses for export of arms and military equipment; Permissions; Conflict in gaza; International law obligations; International contracts and agreements; International relations; Self-imposed restraints on Courts; Foreign Policy. Case Arising From CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Writ Petition (Civil) No. 551 of 2024 (Under Article 32 of The Constitution of India) Appearances for Parties Prashant Bhushan, Ms. Cheryl Dsouza, Ms. Ria Yadav, Luma Kanta Bhandari, Ms. Sulekha Agarwal, Prasanna S, Advs. for the Petitioners. Barun Kumar Sinha, Mrs. Pratibha Sinha, Sneh Vardhan, Abhishek, Advs. for the Respondent. Judgment / Order of the Supreme Court Judgment 1. The petition, invoking Article 32 of the Constitution, has been instituted by former civil servants, scholars, activists and experts in fields such as International Relations, Human Rights and Policy Analysis. 196 [2024] 9 S.C.R. Digital Supreme Court Reports 2. The petition seeks directions to the Union Government to cancel existing licences/permissions and to halt the grant of new licences to companies in India for the export of arms and military equipment to Israel during the ongoing conflict in Gaza. These companies, as the petitioners describe, include a Public Sector Enterprise in the Ministry of Defence and private companies which have allegedly been granted licenses after October 2023.
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