SARASWATHI GOVINDARAJ Vs. SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner is a retired Head of Department of Social Sciences in Queen Mary's College, Chennai and according to her, she has actively participated in several issues for emancipation of women and rejection of superstitious beliefs in Tamil Nadu, for the past several decades and she has also participated in several fact finding teams - national and international, to investigate several social atrocities and she is also the State President of the People's Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and the petitioner and others viz. Thiru. Nammalvar - Environmental Activist, and Tmt.Krishnammal Jeganathan, Freedom Fighter and Bhoodan Movement Activist, submitted a representation dated 10.9.2013, requesting the Government of India to abstain from participating in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Sri Lanka, during November, 2013.

(2.) ACCORDING to the petitioner, the Government of Sri Lanka has indulged in gross violations of human rights against the innocent Tamil Community in the War against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the year 2009, and during such operation, several civilians were killed, tortured and maimed and it also amounts to genocide under the International law and the citizens of India are committed to upholding of human rights and adherence to the International Covenants prescribing mandatory compliance of Principles of Human Rights, and therefore, are constrained to make a request to ensure compliance of Article 51(c) of the Constitution of India and the International Covenants binding upon India.

(3.) THE petitioner further contended that the foreign policy of India is certainly guided by the directive principles of State Policy and Article 51 of the Constitution of India reads as follows: