• By Mayukh Debnath
  • Mon, 09 Sep 2024 04:26 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND

Israel-Hamas War: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking directions to the central government to stop the export of arms and other military equipment to Israel, which is presently engaged in a bloody war with Palestinian militant outfit Hamas in the Gaza Strip. While rejecting the Public Interest Litigation (PIL), the top court said it could not enter the domain of the nation's foreign policy, news agency PTI reported.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud reportedly observed that an order of the nature sought by the petitioners could result in lawsuits against the concerned Indian exporters for breach of contractual obligations. "We cannot enter into the nation's foreign policy domain," the bench was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

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"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," the CJI stated. The PIL was moved by Ashok Kumar Sharma and others through lawyer Prashant Bhushan.

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It sought directions to the Centre to revoke licences and not to grant new ones to Indian companies exporting weapons and other military equipment to Israel. The Israeli assault on Gaza began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed thousands of Palestinians in Gaza so far.

(With inputs from agencies)