New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday ordered maintenance of status quo on India’s first aircraft carrier INS Vikrant which is on the verge of being converted in-to scrap.
A bench comprising justices K.S. Radhakr-ishnan and Vikramjit Sen issued notices to ministry of defence and other authorities concerned on the petition challenging the Bombay High Court decision rejecting the plea to preserve INS Vikrant by converting it into a maritime museum.
The apex court will hear the matter in July. Reports said Indian Navy in March had sold INS Vikrant to the highest bidder, a Mumbai-based Ship breaking company IB Commercial for Rs 63 crore, much above its reserve bid of Rs 3 crore. The plan, in the deal, is to pull it down part-by-part and sell it as lucrative scrap.
The ship’s last day at berth off Mumbai coast was on May 20. It was built in England well before the end of World War-II and the Indian Navy had bought it in 1957.
In the High Court, the Maharashtra argued that the project of having a maritime museum on the ship was not viable considering the expenditure, while the Centre was against the museum as its life was over.
