The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for widening of roads under the Centre’s ambitious Char Dham project, saying the court could not second guess requirements of the army.
A bench comprising Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Vikram Nath pronounced orders in the application filed by the Ministry of Defence seeking modification of the order dated September 8, 2020, which was passed by a three-Judge Bench headed by Justice Rohinton Nariman, in order to permit the Union of India to make roads with 10 Meters tarred surface as opposed to the 5.5 meters as ordered by the Court.
Giving the Centre the green signal, the court said border security concerns need to be met, adding that the Defence Ministry is a specialised body and can decide its operation requirements.
The Court noted that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways circulars do not forbid the double-laning of roads in hilly and mountainous terrains if the roads are of strategic and border importance. The Court also noted that there cannot be judicial review over defence requirements.
The bench also refused to accept the reliance placed by the applicants on a media statement reportedly made by the Army Chief in 2019 that the Char Dham roads have sufficient width for security requirements.
“Armed forces cannot be held up for statement made to media as a statement written in stone. This court in exercise of judicial review cannot second guess the requirements of army,” SC noted. The court also set up an oversight committee headed by Justice AK Sikri to report on the project.
The Court rejected the arguments raised by the applicant NGO “Citizens for Doon” that the Defence Ministry’s application was based out of “mala-fides” and was an attempt to re-litigate issues already decided by the earlier bench.
Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for the Union Ministry, had argued that wider roads
was important in the region for security purposes, especially in the wake of Chinese
build-up at the border.
The strategic 900-km Chardham project worth Rs 12,000 crore aims to provide all-weather connectivity to four holy towns — Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.
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