By IANS
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Thursday dismissed a pubic suit urging that the government be asked to approach the president for referring the India-US civilian nuclear deal to the Supreme Court for its opinion.
“As of today there is no legislation with regard to the deal, so it is purely a policy decision of the government of India and the court could not interfere in the matter,” a division bench headed by Chief Justice M.K. Sharma said, while dismissing the suit.
“We are of the considered opinion that a mandamus cannot be issued directing the union government to approach the president to refer the issue to the Supreme Court for its legal advice,” the court observed.
Referring to a previous Supreme Court ruling, the Bench said: “It is a matter essentially for the president to decide whether to refer the issue or not to Supreme Court for its opinion.”
On Wednesday, while seeking the opinion of the government, the court had said: “Though the matter is important, we think this is at a premature stage. No issue is arising as the agreement is yet to be arrived at by the government.
“However at this stage, we think there are certain things which are not clear and before passing any order, the centre has to make them clear to us,” the court had added.
While appointing senior counsel Jagmohan Sabharwal to assist it, the court had also asked the additional solicitor general to state the government’s opinion on Thursday.
The government submitted that the court could not direct the executive or the president to refer the matter to the apex court for its legal opinion.
The suit, filed by social worker Sarvjeet Kumar, said the nuclear deal was a legal matter and affected the country’s sovereignty and thus should be scrutinised by the Supreme Court.
In the light of various political parties “misinterpreting” the issue, the matter should be referred to the apex court for its opinion, the petition, filed by counsel Sugriv Dubey, said.