’Cannot enter into foreign policy…’: SC dismisses PIL seeking gag order to halt arms export to Israel over Gaza war

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a gag order to halt arms andother military equipment's export to Israel amid the ongoing Gaza war,saying that the court cannot enter into the domain of the nation’s foreign policy.

The Supreme Court bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said the Indian companies cannot be stopped from supplying the same as they may be sued for breach of contractual obligations.

"We cannot enter into the nation’s foreign policy domain," PTI quoted the bench as saying.

"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," CJI Chandrachud said.

It is important to note that Ashok Kumar Sharma and others filed a PIL through lawyer Prashant Bhushan seeking a direction to the Union government to cancel licences and not grant new ones to Indian companies exporting arms and other military equipment to Israel.

Israel's war on Gaza has led to killings of thousands of Palestinians. Prior to this, On 7 October 2023, Palestinian militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people (mostly civilians) and a further 250 taken hostage. Israel responded by bombing the Gaza Strip and launching an invasion that has killed, according to Gaza health officials, nearly 41,000 Palestinians till date.

Separately, The UNHRC chief Volker Turk today urged for ending the nearly year-long war in Gaza and he asked countries to act on what he called Israel's "blatant disregard" for international law in the occupied Palestinian territories. 

"Ending that war and averting a full-blown regional conflict is an absolute and urgent priority," Reuters quoted Turk as saying.

"States must not – cannot – accept blatant disregard for international law, including binding decisions of the UNSC and orders of the International Court of Justice, neither in this nor any other situation," Turk added.