"Policy Matter": Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Seeking Orders on Earthquake Preparedness

The Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta rejected the plea with sharp remarks, questioning the sweeping nature of the reliefs sought.

Appearing in person, the petitioner argued that while earlier only Delhi was categorised as highly vulnerable, recent assessments indicated that most of India now falls within high seismic-risk zones.

The Bench responded with pointed humour. “So we should relocate everyone to the moon or where?” Justice Mehta asked.

When the petitioner cited Japan’s recent earthquake as a comparable scenario, Justice Nath replied, “First we have to bring volcanoes into this country, then we can compare with Japan.”

The petitioner urged the Court to direct authorities to put in place safety mechanisms to minimise damage from earthquakes, but the bench made it clear that disaster management falls strictly within the executive’s policy domain.

“That is for the government to take care of; this court cannot do it. Dismissed,” the Bench said.

At the outset, when the petitioner referred to fresh material and media reports, the judges refused to consider them. “These are all policy matters for the government,” the Bench observed. “These are newspaper reports. We are not bothered about them," the Bench said.

The petition was accordingly dismissed with no directions issued.