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M/s Envitech Marine Consultants Private Limited and Others v. Union of India & Anr.

Special Leave Petition (Civil) · 2021 INSC 249Decided 12 Apr 2021
Special Leave Petition (Civil) Nos. 288-289 of 2021
Chief Justice S.A. Bobde · Justice A.S. Bopanna · Justice V. Ramasubramanian

Background

The petitioners wanted to preserve the decommissioned Indian Navy warship INS Viraat (formerly HMS Hermes) as a heritage museum, and had sought a "No Objection Certificate" from the Ministry of Defence for a public-private heritage project, citing interest from a Canadian corporation. Meanwhile, the Government had already decided to scrap the ship through public auction, and a scrap buyer was declared the highest bidder and paid about Rs 38.54 crores for it. The Bombay High Court disposed of the petitioners' writ petition only by directing the Government to decide their representation, without ruling on the merits, and the petitioners then approached the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court noted that the scrap buyer had offered to cooperate with the preservation plan only if the petitioners met certain conditions (full payment and a NOC by set deadlines), which the petitioners failed to meet; that the Ministry of Defence had since formally rejected the petitioners' representation (an order the petitioners never separately challenged); and that dismantling of the ship was already 35-40% complete, with the vessel declared a "dead structure" that had suffered severe hull damage. On these facts, the Court held that while it sympathized with the petitioners' sentiments about heritage preservation, it could not grant any relief at that stage, and dismissed the Special Leave Petitions with no order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

Courts will not intervene to reverse a government decision already substantially implemented and never independently challenged, however well-intentioned the petitioner's cause: timely legal action and compliance with conditions set by stakeholders matter more than good intentions alone.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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