Govt introduces Piracy Bill in Lower House

The government on Tuesday introduced the Piracy Bill 2012 in Parliament which will help prosecute the pirates arrested by Indian Navy or Coast Guard irrespective of their nationalities.

Minister of State for External Affairs, E Ahmed, introduced the Bill in the Lok Sabha, stating that the proposed legislation would make “special provisions for suppression of piracy” and provide for “punishment for the offence of piracy”.

The Bill defines the expression ‘piracy’ in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It also provide for punishment for an act of piracy, attempt to commit piracy and accomplice to piracy. The scope of the Bill is proposed to be extended to India’s Exclusive Economic Zone – the sea-limits in which the country has special rights under the UNCLOS. 

Ahmed said that the Bill would provide “certainty and clarity in the law as well as a sound basis for effective prosecution” of pirates apprehended by the Indian Navy or Coast Guard, notwithstanding their nationalities. It would also promote the safety and security of India’s maritime trade including the safety of the vessels and crew, he added.

Piracy in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia has emerged as a major global concern and several Indians have been taken hostage by the sea-brigands since 2008. With naval forces of several countries engaged in anti-piracy operations in Gulf of Aden, pirates have been shifting operations eastwards and southwards and closer to India’s Exclusive Economic Zone on its western coast.

The Indian Navy and Coast Guard stepped up vigil and successfully conducted several operations against pirates. They also caught a number of Somali pirates, who are now in the custody of police and undergoing trials in India.India, however, does not have a separate domestic legislation on piracy. Prosecution for piracy as a crime has not been included in the Indian Penal Code 1860 or in the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973.

The provisions of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to armed robbery and the Admiralty jurisdiction of certain courts have been invoked in the past to prosecute pirates apprehended by the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard.