SHANTI Act, 2025| Plea before Supreme Court challenges Nuclear Energy Law provisions on supplier liability

The Supreme Court today heard a petition challenging provisions of Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Act, 2025 (SHANTI Act) relating to supplier liability.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi today said that they would like to read the case file well before taking up the matter. “Let us see the regulatory and precautionary measures. Let us not create a scene that anyone before coming to the country thinks whether or not to,” Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said.

"Now we are in a global village. The regulatory regimes have to be comparable now,” Justice Bagchi told Advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for the petitioner EAS Sarma.

SHANTI Act, 2025 was brought into force recently, while allowing private sector and foreign companies to operate nuclear power plants in India has also capped the liability of these operators at an absurdly low level and exempted the supplier from any liability.

The plea seeks setting aside of Sections 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 39, 44, 67, 81, and 87 of the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Act, 2025, for being in violation of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India as well as in violation of the Doctrine of Absolute Liability, Polluter Pays Principle, the Doctrine of Public Trust, Principles of Inter-Generational Equity, Sustainable Development, and the Precautionary Principle, which have been held by the Supreme Court to be an intrinsic part of Right to Life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

"In contrast the repealed Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 under Section 17 (b) expressly provided for operator’s right of recourse against the supplier. That Section 13 of the Act further caps the government’s residual liability at 300 million Special Drawing Rights - a figure that is abysmally low and effectively ensures that victims of death, injury, or property damage cannot recover even a small fraction of their actual losses," the PIL adds.

The plea cites the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident to argue that SHANTI Act, 2025 caps the liability of the largest plant operator in India at a mere Rs. 3000 crores (i.e., approximately 331 million USD amounting to less than 0.1% of the cost of damage caused by the accidents at Chernobyl or Fukushima).

"That exemption of supplier from any liability in the SHANTI Act is bound to encourage manufacturers and suppliers to cut corners in safety so as to maximise their profits and hence risks jeopardizing the lives and livelihood of people," the plea argues.

Citing the judgment of M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (Shriram-Oleum Gas), wherein the Supreme court laid down the Doctrine of Absolute Liability holding that an enterprise engaged in hazardous or inherently dangerous activity (which a nuclear plant does) is absolutely liable to make good all damage arising therefrom, wholly independent of fault, negligence, or the exercise of due care, the petitioner argued that the impugned provisions of the SHANTI Act, 2025, are in violation of the settled principles of environmental jurisprudence.

Arguing that Act, 2025 envisages a rapid expansion of the nuclear energy sector and permits private participation, thereby reducing governmental control over nuclear facilities, the plea submits, "This dilution of state oversight raises grave concerns for national security and public safety, as nuclear materials and installations are inherently sensitive and pose exceptional risks. Unlike other industries, nuclear facilities constitute potential targets for terrorist attacks and hostile actions by both state and non-state actors, for being used as what is called a ‘dirty bomb’ to create a Chernobyl/ Fukushima type of radioactive contamination or fear of such contamination in major cities. Furthermore, numerous incidents involving the illicit and malicious use of radioactive material have been reported worldwide, as documented by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Incident and Trafficking Database (ITDB), which, according to its 2025 Factsheet, has recorded a total of 4,390 confirmed incidents."

Case Title: EAS SARMA vs. Union of India

Bench: CJI Kant and Justice Bagchi

Hearing Date: February 27, 2026