In a development that came as a boost to the ongoing “Save INS Vikrant” campaign in the metropolis, the Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Western Naval Command, Maharashtra Urban Development Ministry and State Culture and Tourism department to file their say by January 8, on a PIl challenging a move to auction the Indian Navy’s de-commissioned warship INS Vikrant.
Two days ahead of the slated auction of the long de-commissioned INS Vikrant, a high court bench of chief justice Mohit Shah and justice MS Sanklecha took cognisance of a public interest litigation filed by social activist Kiran Paigankar, convenor of the “Save Vikrant Movement” and directed the respondents in the case to file their respective affidavits by January 8, 2014. They scheduled the next hearing of the case for January 16, 2014.
During the course of Monday’s hearing, the counsels for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) told the HC Bench that the Ministry was considering a proposal submitted by the Maharashtra Maritime Department for converting the de-commissioned Vikrant into a maritime museum and a final decision on the proposal would be taken by January 29, 2014.
Making a strong case for converting the INS Vikrant into a permanent maritime museum, the petitioner’s advocate Shekhar Jagtap stated that the State Tourism and Cultural Department could take benefits of India’s first warship for attracting tourist from all over the world.
Jagtap told the court that since INS Vikrant had contributed a great deal to the victory in the 1971 Indo-Pak War that led to the liberation of Bangladesh, the “Save Vikrant Movement” launched by his client had considerable support from people during the past one fortnight.
While praying for converting the INS Vikrant into a national museum, Jagtap cited the definition of “Antiquity” under the Antiquity and Art Treasure Act, 1972 and stated that the legendary war ship merited the status of Antiquity under the law.
He also highlighted the policy for disposal of de-commissioned ships enunciated by the Ministry of Defence on August 10, 2010, which provides for conversion any de-commissioned ship into a museum or war relic.
Elaborating on the high court’s directive to the Western Naval Command and departments of State Urban Development and Culture & Tourism, Jagtap told “The Pioneer” in the evening: “Though the high court has not in clear cut terms stayed the auction of INS Vikrant scheduled for December 18, its very directive to the respondents in the case is an indicator enough to assume that the auction is as good as stalled. Though their oral submission before the court, the MoD counsels have also indicated as much”.
Apart from the social organizations in the city, the political parties like the BJP, Shiv Sena and MNS have also been campaigning vociferously for converting INS Vikrant into a full-fledged maritime museum. So much so that the ruling Shiv Sena has written to the BMC administration to make a budgetary allocation of Rs 100 crore during the next four years for setting up a maritime museum on board INS Vikrant.
INS Vikrant, which the Indian Navy bought it from Royal Navy as part of Indo-British defence agreement in 1957, played a key role during the 1971 Indo-Pak War that led to the liberation of Bangladesh. She was decommissioned in 1997 after 36 years of service.
After she was decommissioned, a museum was opened on board the aircraft carrier and she came to be re-christened as Indian Museum Ship (IMS) Vikrant. However, the IMS did not find a permanent berth, with the Maharashtra government – despite having evinced interest in converting her into a permanent museum facility – failing to deliver its promise.
Early this month, Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Naval Command, had revealed that the INS Vikrant was being put up for auction on December 18, after the Maharashtra government expressed its inability to convert the decommissioned ship into a permanent maritime museum.
While expressing sadness over the impending auction of INS Vikrant, Vice Admiral Sinha had hoped that the bidder `who wins the bid converts INS Vikrant into a permanent museum’. “The Navy would render all possible help...too many memories are attached to her. But then it all depends on the person who wins the bid...whether she sails into books or remains physically present...twinkling gently at generations to come,” Vice Admiral Sinha had said.