Govt drops plans to dilute key provision of N-Liability Bill

Faced with stiff opposition from the BJP and the Left, the government today dropped plans to dilute a key provision in the Nuclear Liability Bill, as its top officials were grilled by the Parliamentary Committee.

Department of Atomic Energy Secretary Srikumar Banerjee, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and a number of other senior officials faced tough questions during the meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on science and technology on aspects like liability of the supplier of a nuclear plant or material and cap of Rs 500 crore on compensation.

Banerjee expressed regrets before the committee for circulating a note at the last meeting which contained a proposal for amending clause 17 (b).

The clause proposes that the operator would have legal recourse if a nuclear accident results from the “wilful act or gross negligence on the part of the supplier of the material, equipment or services, or of his employee.”

According to the note circulated in the last meeting of the Standing Committee on June 8, clause 17 (b) had been deleted, while clause 17 (a) and (c) had been retained.

At the meeting today, the committee was informed that the government was withdrawing that note and the original clause remains, sources said.

Clause 17 (a) provides that the operator could have legal recourse if “such right is expressly provided in the contract in writing” while 17 (c) says recourse could be taken if “the nuclear incident has resulted from the act of commission or omission of a person done with the intent to cause nuclear damage.”

The decision to drop the amendment assumes significance as it coincides with the uproar over handling of the Bhopal gas tragedy in which the then government is accused of allowing the operators of Union Carbide to go scot-free.

During the day-long meeting, members of the committee grilled Banerjee and other officials, questioning the intent behind the amendments and wondered whether the consent of the Cabinet had been taken for it, sources said.

The government officials are understood to have told the committee that the amendments were only “suggestions”.

After the proposals were moved at the last committee meeting, the government had come under sharp attack from the BJP and the Left, which questioned whether it was being done to help American companies.

Another area of contention was the Rs 500-crore cap on the compensation to be paid by an operator of a nuclear power plant in case of an accident.

There were strong demands that the cap be raised.