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The Attorney General (AG) of India, K.K.Venugopal, today argued that the army should be provided with all the resources including the 42 feet Brahmos missile launcher in the event of a confrontation with China. He further said that under these circumstance, the government can’t stick to the specifications mentioned in the 2018 circular so far as the road specifications of the Char Dham project are concerned. 

The AG was making submissions in an application filed by Central Government for modification of order of the Supreme Court in the order dated 8th September 2020 before a bench of Justices Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath. The government sought the widening of road due to the ongoing problems at the northern border with China.

It was argued that certain suspicion was thrown by the NGO, Citizens for Green Doon, on the motives behind filing the application and that the government only wants to widen the roads to transport military and military equipment.

The AG further said that the Indian Road Congress (IRC), a body of experts, have agreed with the views presented before the court by the government in its deliberation in 2019.

The AG argued that landslides have taken place throughout the country without an exception and that the army does not intend to take 7000-8000 cars to the Chinese border every day and that they intend to take it only if there is a confrontation.

He submitted that 2018 circular was irrelevant in the existing condition at the border and that the roads need to be upgraded to cater to the army’s needs.

It was further argued that the original appeal before the Supreme Court dealt only with Char Dham and not with the army’s needs and the appeal has no relevance to the army’s need when in a confrontation at 17,000 feet. The AG argued that only the majority view of the High Powered Committee (HPC) has to be accepted.

It was submitted  that since the HPC did not come up with a unanimous report, the earlier bench accepted the 2018 circular only to the extent of Char Dham Pariyojna and that the report of the HPC did not deal with Chinese build up in the other side of the border.

The AG argued that the court’s approach is appropriate given the situation in the border and the government was ready to comply with any conditions that the court lays down to mitigate ecological balance if any. The AG submitted that these conditions cannot be implied when the Army has to carry a 42 feet Brahmos missile launcher up the mountains.

Justice Chandrachud pointed out that the prayers do not seek any specifications and that they are generic. The AG while agreeing that the prayer should have been explicit submitted that since it seeks for a 2 lane configuration, it is understood that it has to be in accordance with the 2020 circular and not the 2018 circular.

The AG further pointed out that the respondents have not come forward with their recommendations to mitigate the imbalance because they thing it would amount to conceding to the application of the Government.

The court while hearing the matter yesterday told the counsels that it would like to be assisted on how to approach this issue in a balanced manner. Justice Chandrachud spoke about the importance of army in remote area.

Upon hearing the parties, the court reserved the case for orders.

Case title: Citizens for Green Doon Vs Union of India.