Sovereign Nation Of Israel Is Not Amenable To Our Jurisdiction: Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Seeking Suspension Of Military Exports To Israel
The Supreme Court, in a recent judgment, remarked that the sovereign nation of Israel is not and cannot be made amenable to its jurisdiction.
This observation was made while dismissing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by former bureaucrats, senior academics, and activists seeking directions from the Union of India to halt the export of arms and military equipment to Israel during its ongoing military operations in Gaza.
The Court was considering the submission of the petitioners in regard to the conduct of Israel in the conduct of its operations in Gaza.
"The sovereign nation of Israel is not and cannot be made amenable to the jurisdiction of this Court. Hence, for Page 3 of 4 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 bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra observed.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan appeared on behalf of the petitioners.
The Petitioners had called for the cancellation of existing licenses and the suspension of the issuance of new licenses to various Indian companies engaged in the export of military hardware to Israel. Among the companies named in the petition are Munitions India Limited, a public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Defence, and private firms such as Premier Explosives Ltd. and Adani Defence and Aerospace Ltd. The PIL highlighted the recent decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on January 26, 2024, which ordered provisional measures against Israel for violations in Gaza under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The ICJ's ruling called for an immediate halt to military actions causing harm to the Palestinian people. The petition underscored that India is a signatory to various international treaties and conventions, including the Genocide Convention and the Geneva Conventions, which obligate the country to prevent genocide and refrain from supplying arms to states involved in war crimes. It is argued that exporting military equipment to Israel, which could be used in such crimes, directly contravenes these international obligations.
To dismiss the writ petition, the bench gave the following reasons:
-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.
-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. In taking an appropriate decision, the Government bears into account all relevant considerations including the commitments of the nation at the international level. The danger in the Court taking over this function is precisely that it would be led into issuing injunctive reliefs without a full and comprehensive analysis or backdrop of the likely consequences of any such action. The self-imposed restraint on Courts entering into areas of foreign policy is, thus, grounded in sound rationale which has been applied across time.
Cause Title: Ashok Kumar Sharma vs Union of India (Neutral Citation: 2024 INSC 674)