Role of the Indian Supreme Court in Shaping Technology Development
Nupur Chowdhury
Science Technology Society, 19(1):57-77. March 2014.
Abstract: Public interest litigation questioning risk regulation of emerging technologies has been a mechanism through which the Supreme Court has become increasingly involved in the national narrative on technology, development, risk and the role of the state. Such litigations include biotechnology and nuclear technology which have also been identified as important ingredients of the national development agenda. This is similar to other developing countries where identification of emerging technologies that help the economy leapfrog, have become part of the development agenda. Understandably the focus of the state is on development rather than on risk regulation. This has attracted considerable criticism from civil society groups and legal challenges to the regulatory framework. The Supreme Court despite its stated lack of competence to understand and address technological issues and its innate restraint to comment on what it deems to be policy matters, has been forced to address issues of risk regulation and in the process play a critical role in constituting the technology and shaping the imagination of that technology within the national narrative. The aim of this article is to examine and evaluate the role of the Supreme Court in this context through an analysis of two case studies of nuclear technology and biotechnology.
Download Full-text PDF: http://sts.sagepub.com/content/19/1/57.full.pdf+html
Nupur Chowdhury
Science Technology Society, 19(1):57-77. March 2014.
Abstract: Public interest litigation questioning risk regulation of emerging technologies has been a mechanism through which the Supreme Court has become increasingly involved in the national narrative on technology, development, risk and the role of the state. Such litigations include biotechnology and nuclear technology which have also been identified as important ingredients of the national development agenda. This is similar to other developing countries where identification of emerging technologies that help the economy leapfrog, have become part of the development agenda. Understandably the focus of the state is on development rather than on risk regulation. This has attracted considerable criticism from civil society groups and legal challenges to the regulatory framework. The Supreme Court despite its stated lack of competence to understand and address technological issues and its innate restraint to comment on what it deems to be policy matters, has been forced to address issues of risk regulation and in the process play a critical role in constituting the technology and shaping the imagination of that technology within the national narrative. The aim of this article is to examine and evaluate the role of the Supreme Court in this context through an analysis of two case studies of nuclear technology and biotechnology.
Download Full-text PDF: http://sts.sagepub.com/content/19/1/57.full.pdf+html
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