Sensing the opposition parties were uniting as they did on price rise, the government on Monday developed cold feet forcing it to back off from introducing the controversial Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill.

The bill, which aims to exempt nuclear reactor suppliers from liability in case of an accident and limiting the plant operator's liability to only Rs 500 crores, has been criticised by BJP, the Left, and other parties as well as activists.

Though the bill was listed in the business for the day in Lok Sabha, the government decided against it at the last moment.

A top source in the Congress said party president Sonia Gandhi had asked Manmohan Singh to go slow with the bill as some sections of the party too were opposed to the damage clause. She was also concerned that any attempt to push the bill at this stage may adversely hit the Congress-BJP-Left unity so vital for getting her dream bill of women's reservation passed in the Lok Sabha after the financial business is over in April.

Opposition miffed

In Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Science Prithviraj Chavan walked to the opposition benches during Question Hour to convey that the prime minister has asked him not to introduce the bill in the house in view of their strong sentiments but to hold further consultations before taking it up in parliament.

Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj, followed by BJP veteran L K Advani, were miffed at the government withdrawing the bill's introduction without giving any reason when Speaker Meira Kumar announced that Chavan had informed her that the bill, though listed as item no. 19 on the day's agenda, will not be introduced.

"The government has made the request and I have accepted it," the speaker asserted when the opposition all prepared to jointly prevent the bill's introduction wanted to speak on it. She, however, cut them short saying that she cannot allow them to speak on a bill that has not been yet introduced.

Nobody from the government was ready to state when the bill will be now brought before parliament. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wanted it passed before he goes to the US in April for a meeting of the nuclear countries convened by President Barrack Obama.

The prime minister rang up Sushma Swaraj on Sunday and National Security Adviser Shivshanker Menon personally called upon Rajya Sabha opposition leader Arun Jaitley to seek support to the bill but without success. Both suggested that at the most they will agree to sending the bill to the parliamentary standing committee for thorough examination.

On Monday, the main opposition BJP made its position clear that the liability bill can come only if the government first amends the Atomic Energy Act to allow private parties set up the nuclear power plants as otherwise it would be unconstitutional to delimit liability of the
government that owns all such plants in the country.

The bill is part of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal of 2006 and a requirement of the 123 civil nuclear agreement between India and the US as the American companies are not prepared to sell any nuclear equipment for fear of unlimited liabilities in case of a nuclear accident. 

While Sushma Swaraj insisted on the Chair putting a motion before the house to allow the government drop the bill since it was already listed, Advani said the government has the right to bring a bill or not but it is duty bound to the house to explain it has been held up for fresh review. The speaker, however, overruled them and said that explanation is warranted only if a bill is introduced and then withdrawn.

Sinha raises quesitons

When BJP's Yashwant Sinha persisted for explanation in the post-lunch session, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal asserted that the government's decision to introduce or not to introduce a piece of legislation cannot be questioned in the house.

Sinha later told a press conference that the nuclear liability law was unconstitutional and not required when the whole nuclear business is in the government's hand. He charged that the bill is to help out only two American nuclear reactor supplier firms, Westinghouse and General Electric, to absolve them of any liability for defects that may cause accidents.

The BJP leader also released a letter he had written to the Lok Sabha secretary general in the morning to allow him to raise the constitutional objections before the bill is introduced in the house. The letter asserts that the bill violates Article 14 and 21 of the constitution. The bill violates principle of equality as enunciated in Article 14 as it limits the amount of compensation while the law of the land entitles the citizen to full compensation.

Sinha also quoted a Supreme Court ruling introducing the "polluter pays principle" under which it is not the role of the government to meet the costs of damages as the bill stipulates but the concerned industry has to pay the compensation to the victims of accidents as
part of their fundamental rights under Article 21.

Moreover, Sinha said the bill limits the operator's liability to only Rs 500 crores and rather it not only limits the liability but transfers a large part of the liability to the government. In other words, the taxpayer has to pay for any nuclear accident.

Sinha also pointed out that the same US government that is insisting on this bill has the Price Anderson Act that fixes the liability at $12.5 billion which is 23 times higher than the liability being fixed for an Indian operator. "Is the life of an Indian only worth a dime compared to the life of an American," he asked.