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The Madras high court on Thursday pulled up the Union government for issuing statements with regard to commissioning of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant when the court was seized of the matter.

While hearing two public interest litigations from G.Sundarrajan, a division bench comprising justices P. Jyothimani and P. Devadass, said how can a Union minister issue statements on the commissioning of the plant when the court was still hearing cases relating to it. “He says the plant is going to be opened shortly. If that is so, why do you come to court? The senior judge received hundreds of SMSes whenever the minister issued such statements,” the bench added.

In one PIL, Mr Sundarrajan sought a direction to the authorities not to commission units 1 and 2 of KKNPP without obtaining a fresh consent order from Tamil Nadu pollution control board (TNPCB); in the other PIL, he sought to stay the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board's clearance for `initial fuel loading' and `first approach to criticality' of unit 1 of KKNPP on August 10.
Flaying the TNPCB, which passed a consent order prescribing the tolerance limit of trade effluent, the bench said it was a nuclear plant and the board should not treat it like an ordinary industry and an effluent treatment plant.

Pointing out that the court had reserved orders after hearing elaborate arguments and that nearly 200 pages of the judgment had been dictated, the bench asked then what was the purpose of hearing the case for so long. The Madras high court on Thursday not just pulled up the Union government for issuing statements with regard to commissioning of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP), when the court was seized of the matter, it also charged that the Government of India was making a mockery of the Madras high court.

After noticing that no one represented the Union government during the hearing, the bench said the Union government was not represented in the court properly. The portfolio came under the Prime Minister.

The cases were heard for several days regularly. The Centre was not taking the case seriously. The Government of India was making a mockery of the Madras high court. “The Centre thinks that only the Supreme Court is a court and that the Madras high court is not a court at all,“ the bench added.

The division bench of justices P. Jyothimani and P.Devadass were hearing two public interest litigations from G. Sundarrajan.

The bench said how can a Union minister issues statements on the commissioning of the plant when the court was still hearing cases relating to the project. Pointing out that the court had reserved orders after hearing elaborate arguments and that nearly 200 pages of the judgment had been dictated, the bench asked what was the purpose of hearing the case for so long.

Source: Deccan Chronicle