Govt open to more Oppn advice on N-Bill

‘We want the best Bill for India,’ says Union Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan

Conceding that the Opposition may be right in its criticism that the latest version of the nuclear liability Bill is too easy on suppliers for their responsibilities in a nuclear accident, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan has said he is ready to incorporate any suggestions made by the Opposition in this regard.

“I am ready to cooperate. I don’t think we should play politics with the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Bill. It is a new area for Indian legislation, we are learning and I don’t believe for one moment that the government is the repository of entire wisdom on the subject. I am meeting Opposition leaders informally on Monday. Just as earlier objections voiced by them were taken on board, I am happy to accept these suggestions also. We simply want the best Bill for India. This is too important a matter on which to score political points,” he told Business Standard.

The BJP and Left parties today asserted that they would oppose any dilution of the suppliers’ liability contained in Clause 17 (B) of the Bill.

Both groups are objecting to the wording of the clause in the Bill which reads “the operator of a nuclear installation, after paying the compensation for nuclear damage in accordance with Section 6, shall have a right of recourse where —

(a) such right is expressly provided for in a contract in writing;

(b) the nuclear incident has resulted as a consequence of an act of supplier or his employees, done with the intent to cause nuclear damage, and such act includes supply of equipment or material with patent or latent defects or sub-standard services; and

(c) the nuclear incident has resulted from the act of commission or omission of an individual done with intent to cause nuclear damage.”

They say that the mention of “intent” in the sub-clauses (b) and (c) regarding an accident may give a route to suppliers to escape responsibility because it would be difficult to prove intent in any such mishap.

“We are very clear that the scope of Clause 17 (B) (relating to suppliers’ liability) cannot be diluted,” BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said.

To this, Chavan, on behalf of the government, said that he was ready to revert to the original draft. “We have two days to mull over every word in the Bill. We are ready to take objections on board, even if it is only a question of changing or removing two or three words” Chavan said.

The Bill is slated to come to Parliament on August 25. However, the minister said he needed to make sure there were no commercial lobbies driving the debate on drafting.

The final text of the Bill has not yet been officially published.

On Friday, under attack from the Opposition parties for trying to “dilute” the provisions of the Bill, the government had made certain amendments to strengthen the proposed legislation approved by the Union Cabinet.