BJP to oppose amended N-bill in Parliament
New Delhi: The BJP on Sunday said it would oppose a controversial amendment made in the CivilNuclear Liability Bill which would come up for discussion in Lok Sabha on August 25.
BJP Spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman slammed the Cabinet for accepting the the amendment, which is being seen to be diluting the right of recourse of operator to seek damages from supplier in the event of an accident, and warned the government of an Opposition backlash in Parliament.
"The latest amendment which has been cleared by Cabinet, which is going to be tabled tomorrow, we have strong objections to it," said Sitharaman. The BJP is upset after the government introduced 2 new sub-clauses in the bill, saying a supplier will be held accountable for a disaster in a nuclear plant only if the accident occurred is seen as a result of the suppliers' intent to cause damage.
The amended Clause 17 says "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; (c) the nuclear incident has resulted from the act of commission or omission of an individual done with intent to cause nuclear damage."
Critics of this sub-clause say it is nearly impossible to prove 'intent' in the court of law and hence would make it difficult for victims to seek damages from the supplier.
Significantly, neither the original bill nor the recommendations of Parliamentary Standing Committee which examined it had contained such a proposal. Only earlier this week, the government had to beat a hasty retreat when a controversy arose over inclusion of a word "And" between sub-clauses (a) and (b) in Clause 17 which the BJP and Left parties feared diluted the supplier's liability in case of an accident.
The government then dropped the controversial word but reworked the language of the Clause 17 in which the word "intent" has been included.
CPI leader D Raja reacted strongly to the fresh changes made by the government, saying these would dilute the supplier's liability drastically.
"I don't understand what they say. Disaster is a disaster. Who will agree that this was done willfully or deliberately. It is irrational and ridiculous," he said. The Left parties would look at the amendments carefully when these are brought to Parliament and decide their strategy.
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