BJP rejects PM's plea on nuclear liability bill

New Delhi, March 15: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has turned down Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's appeal to end its opposition to the civil liability for nuclear damage bill.

BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said Monday that the prime mininster had called up Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj Sunday to urge the party to give up its opposition to the nuclear liability bill that provides for compensation and fixes liability in the event of an accident.

He said Manmohan Singh urged Swaraj to "change (the party's) decision" on the bill but she conveyed BJP's firm opposition to it. "She told the PM that we remain opposed to the bill and will never accept it," Sinha said.

Sinha said National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon had earlier met party leaders on the bill and was told about the party's opposition.

The government Monday deferred introduction of nuclear liability bill in the Lok Sabha.

Sinha Monday wrote a letter to the Lok Sabha secretary general, saying the the bill violates the constitution on many counts.

"The jurisdiction of Indian courts has been done away with. No court can entertain applications against the operator or supplier even in an accident. The judgement of the tribunal will prevail," he said.

He said that clause 6 of the bill limits the total liability to about 458 million dollars and liability of an operator to Rs.500 crore (about USD 11 million).

"It not only limits the liability, it also transfers a large part of the liability to the government, in other words, the tax payer. The liability of the operator under the Price Anderson Act of the US is 12.5 billion dollars which is 23 times higher than the liability fixed for an Indian operator. Clearly, the life of an Indian is only worth a dime compared to the life of an American," Sinha said.

He said the bill violates Article 14 of the constitution which lays down the principle of equality before law and Article 21 which deals with the protection of life and personal liberty.

"It also violates the United Nations Charter," he said.

Sinha charged the government with "functioning in a muddle-headed manner".

To queries, he said Atomic Energy Act will have to be amended if government wants private players to enter nuclear commerce.

The government wants the bill to be passed ahead of the prime minister's visit to Washington in April to attend the nuclear security summit. The passage of the bill is needed for American companies to do civil nuclear business in India that is estimated at billions of dollars.