Country’s maiden anti-piracy Bill introduced in LS

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 9

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today introduced in the Lok Sabha country’s first Bill to punish the act of piracy with life imprisonment or death.

The Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill, 2019, aims to lay down punishment for piracy at high seas, secure Indian maritime trade and fulfil national commitments under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

India signed the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982 and ratified in 1995. It does not, however, have a domestic anti-piracy law yet and deals with related crimes under the IPC, which is inadequate.

The Bill makes the offence of piracy extraditable and says guilt of offenders would be presumed if certain prescribed conditions are fulfilled.

Congress MP and former Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor opposed the introduction of the Bill on the specific point that it “allows automatic death penalty” and would make it difficult for India to negotiate with other countries where capital punishment is not on the statutes.

Jaishankar, however, said the Bill did not lay down automatic death sentencing and provided for life imprisonment or death.

“Please do not see rigidity in the Bill,” the minister said to Tharoor. The Bill was deemed necessary in the wake of rising piracy. Government records document how the Gulf of Aden that separates Somalia and Yemen and connects the Arabian Sea to the Red Sea through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean Sea had seen a major spurt in attacks by pirates operating from Somalia since 2008.

“This route is used by about 2,000 ships each month for trade between Asia and Europe and east coast of Africa. With the enhanced naval presence in the Gulf of Aden, pirates shifted their area of operation eastwards and southwards. This has led to flurry of piracy incidents towards the western coast of India as well,” a statement explaining the need for the Bill says.

India yet does not have a separate domestic legislation on piracy. Indian Penal Code provisions pertaining to armed robbery have been invoked in the past to prosecute pirates apprehended by the Navy and the Coast Guard, but in the absence of a specific law on the offence of maritime piracy in India, problems were being faced to ensure effective prosecution of pirates.

“Given the increasing incidences of piracy, the need is felt to have a comprehensive domestic legislation on piracy,” reasons for bringing the Bill say.