SC agrees to hear Centre's plea on INS Vikrant

Plea is for the relocation of the country's now decommissioned first aircraft carrier

The Supreme Court will Friday hear a plea by the Centre for the relocation of the country's now decommissioned first aircraft carrier INS Vikrant to Darukhana ship breaking yard on grounds of its dilapidated condition.

The apex court bench of Justice B.S. Chauhan and Justice A.K. Sikri agreed to hear the matter Friday after Additional Solicitor General Siddharth Luthra told the court that the 70-year-old aircraft carrier is in extreme obsolescence and its hull was disintegrating.

Seeking the vacation of the May 5, 2014 order in which the apex Court had ordered status quo, Luthra told the court that all that the government was seeking was shifting of the decommissioned aircraft carrier from the naval dockyard to another berthing place.

Luthra informed the court that the aircraft carrier was in a precarious condition and could suffer extensive damage, including sinking in the event of high tides or monsoon rain, thereby posing serious safety related risks to the dockyard.