Bomb hoax calls to be made cognizable offence: Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu

A cognisable offence is one in which the police can arrest without a warrant and begin an investigation without court approval, typically involving serious crimes like murder or theft

Bomb hoax calls, which have affected more than 90 flights of Indian carriers since October 14, will soon be made a cognisable offence under Indian laws, Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu said on Monday.

“We have come to the conclusion that there are two areas that we can explore. One is the amendment in Aircraft Security Rules... once we catch the perpetrators, we will put them on the no-fly list,” he said.

“Second thing is the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act, 1982. Multiple offences such as committing violence onboard an aircraft and destruction or damage to air navigation facilities have already been listed under this Act. It takes care of offences in the flight. We want to expand to include offences such as hoax calls when the aircraft is at an airport,” he said.

He said the civil aviation ministry's team is working thoroughly on this issue. “We will bring an amendment. We are consulting other stakeholders... We are making it a cognisable offence. Based on the amendment, there will be a punishment and a fine,” Naidu added. 

A cognisable offence is one in which the police can arrest someone without a warrant and begin an investigation without court approval. It typically involves serious crimes like murder or theft.

It differs from non-cognisable offences, where police need a warrant to arrest and cannot initiate an investigation without court permission.

When asked if there is a conspiracy behind the series of bomb threats, Naidu said: “Till the time the investigation is complete, there is no point commenting on it. Let us go through the process. Let the investigation happen. Let everything come out. Then, we will discuss it.”

On the financial impact on airlines, he said: “They are also cooperating on how to come up with a better process to address the issue. They are partnering with us to enhance the whole process. Even if there is a certain amount of inconvenience, they also understand the whole atmosphere that has been created now. So, they are also supporting us.”

Meanwhile, two senior aviation security officials met Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan on Monday to discuss the issue of hoax threats.

Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) director General Zulfiquar Hasan and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) director General Rajwinder Singh Bhatti held a meeting with Mohan, which lasted for about 30 minutes.

CISF provides security personnel at all major airports in the country. BCAS is the aviation security regulator in India. 

On Saturday, BCAS officials held a meeting with representatives of airlines.

At the meeting, some airlines were represented by their chief executive officers (CEOs) and others by their senior executives.