N-bill: Left against clubbing clauses
The Left parties on Thursday objected to the clubbing of two clauses in the proposed Civil Nuclear Liability Bill, saying this was done to protect the foreign equipment suppliers from any responsibility in case of a nuclear accident. Top leaders of the CPI(M), CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc appealed to all political parties to reconsider their position regarding the proposed legislation as the standing committee’s recommendations “will not substantially improve it”.
“The members of the Left parties in the standing committee have registered their dissent to the report and recommendations. The Left parties wish to explain to the people the objectionable features that would still exist in the legislation if the recommendations of the standing committee are accepted,” a CPI(M) statement said.
Demanding the cap should be raised to at least Rs 10,000 crores, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said “none of the international nuclear liability conventions set any cap on total liability but only set a floor level”. The clubbing of two clauses on the right of recourse of a nuclear plant operator was aimed at protecting the foreign equipment suppliers, he told reporters after a meeting of top Left leaders here.
The parties also opposed the cap of Rs 1,500 crores on the liability of a nuclear plant operator, saying it was “hardly significant”, pointing out that a nuclear accident would be much more devastating than the Bhopal gas disaster. While Mr Karat chose not to comment on the alleged trade-off between Congress and BJP over the nuclear bill issue by the CBI exonerating Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, party colleague and Rajya Sabha MP Sitaram Yechury said “the timing of both the things has naturally generated suspicions of an alleged trade-off.
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