NEW DELHI – A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre to cancel the existing licences and cease issuing new ones to Indian firms exporting arms and other military equipment to Israel, which is engaged in genocide in Gaza.

The PIL, filed by 11 individuals including Ashok Kumar Sharma, a resident of Noida, through lawyer Prashant Bhushan, has made the union Ministry of Defence a party, and said, “India is bound by various international laws and treaties that obligate India not to supply military weapons to States guilty of war crimes, as any export could be used in serious violations of international humanitarian law,” a Press Trust of India (PTI) report said on Wednesday.

The plea argues that India’s continued arms trade with Israel violates various international laws, including those related to international humanitarian law, and India’s own constitutional obligations under Articles 14 and 21.

“Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ or direction to the respondents, Union of India, through its various organs, to cancel any existing licences and halt the grant of new licences/permissions, to various companies in India, for export of arms and other military equipment to Israel…,” the PIL says.

It contends that continuing to export arms to Israel violates India’s obligations under international law, particularly in light of recent rulings by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and statements from United Nations experts.

In January, the ICJ ordered provisional measures against Israel for violations in the Gaza Strip of obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

“The provisional measures include an immediate military halt to all killings and destruction that is being perpetrated by Israel on the Palestinian people. In the light of this judgment United Nations experts released a statement warning against the transfer of weapons and military ammunition to Israel which may constitute a serious violation of human rights and international humanitarian laws and risk state complicity in international crimes, possibly including genocide,” the PIL says.

“India is bound by various international laws and treaties that obligate India not to supply military weapons to States guilty of war crimes, as any export could be used in serious violations of international humanitarian law,” PTI cited the PIL as saying.

Israel’s war on Gaza has led to killings of thousands of Palestinians.