M A I N   N E W S

Govt drops plans to dilute N-Liability Bill

New Delhi, June 15
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 many other senior officials faced tough questions during the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology on aspects like liability of 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 that contained a proposal for amending clause 17(b).This 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 at the last meeting on June 8, the clause 17 (b) had been deleted while clause 17(a) and (c) had been retained.

The committee was informed today that the government was withdrawing that note and the original clause stands part of the Bill, sources said.

The clause 17 (a) provides that the operator could have the legal recourse if “such right is expressly provided in the contract in writing” while 17 (c) says the 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.” — PTI