 bill no 310 of  2016 the public liability for non-nuclear industrial mishap bill, 2016 by shrimati ranjeet ranjan, mp a billto provide for stringent punishment and adequate compensation for non-nuclear industrial mishaps in the country and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the public liability for non-nuclear industrial mishapact, 2016short title, extent  and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india5(3) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appointdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires:—(a) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government ofthat state and in all other cases, the central government;10(b) "claims commissioner" means the claims commissioner appointed undersection 3;(c) "fund" means non-nuclear industrial mishap fund constituted under section 15;5(d) "liability" means the liability of the central government or the state government or both for fixing and awarding compensation to the victims of any mishap causing minor or major injuries or death of the individuals;(e) "mishap" means any incident causing injury or death of any individual due to operational fault in the non-nuclear industry;38 of 2010 6 of 199110(f) "non-nuclear industries" includes industries other than the nuclear industries, which are covered under the civil liability for nuclear damage act, 2010 and the public liability insurance act, 1991, whether government undertakings, private or in joint venture or an autonomous undertaking; and(g) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act3 (1) whoever suffers due to mishap in a non-nuclear industry shall be entitled to claim compensation in accordance with the provisions of this act15compensation for nonnuclear industrial mishaps(2) for the purpose of adjudicating upon claims for compensation for any mishap, the appropriate government shall—(a) notify the mishap within a period of six months from the date of occurrence of such mishap; and20(b) appoint one or more claims commissioners for such areas of mishap, as may be specified in that notification, in such manner as may be prescribed4 a person shall not be qualified for appointment as a claims commissioner unless he—(a) is, or has been, a district judge, orqualification for appointment as claims commissioner(b) in the service of the appropriate government and has held the post not below the rank of joint secretary or deputy collector of the area or any other equivalent post255 the salary and allowances, payable to, and other terms and conditions of service, of claims commissioner shall be such as may be prescribedsalary, allowances & other terms and conditions of service of the claims commissioner6 (1) for the purpose of adjudication of claims under this act, the claims commissioner shall follow such procedure as may be prescribed30adjudicating procedure and powers of claims commissioner(2) for the purpose of holding inquiry, the claims commissioner may associate with him such persons having expertise in non-nuclear industries or such other persons and in such manner as may be prescribed(3) the salary and allowances payable to and other terms and conditions of service of a person associated under sub-section (2) shall be such as may be prescribed355 of 1908(4) the claims commissioner shall be deemed to be a civil court for the purposes of discharging his functions under this act and shall have the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the code of civil procedure, 1908407 after the notification of non-nuclear mishap under clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 3, the claims commissioner, having jurisdiction over the area, shall cause wide publicity to be given, in such manner as he deems fit, for inviting applications for claiming compensation for injuries or death caused due to such mishapinviting applications for claims by claims commissioner8 an application for compensation before the claims commissioner of non-nuclear industrial mishap shall be made by—(a) a person who has sustained injury or any agent duly authorized by such persons; or5(b) the legal representatives of the deceasedpersons entitled to make application for nonnuclear industrial mishap9 (1) every application for compensation before the claims commissioner shall bemade in such form, containing such particulars and accompanied by such documents as may be prescribedprocedure for making applications before claims commissioner10(2) every application under sub-section (1) shall be made within a period of six months from the date of issue of notification of mishap under clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 3award by claims commissioner10 (1) the claims commissioner shall, on receipt of an application under sub-section(1) of section 9, after giving notice of such application to the owner and after giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard to the parties, dispose of the applications within a period of three months from the date of such receipt and make an award accordingly15(2) the claims commissioner shall provide the copies of the award to the parties within a period of fifteen days from the date of pronouncing the award in such manner as may be prescribedlimits of liability2011 the maximum amount of liability with respect to non-nuclear industrial mishap shall,—(a) in case of loss of life to a person shall be rupees ten lakh; and (b) in case of permanent injury including immediate and long term health impact to a person shall not be less than rupees two lakh but which may extend upto rupees five lakh depending upon the nature of such injury sustainedpenalties12 whoever—25(a) negligently causes loss of life or personal injury, in any mishap, or (b) contravenes any provisions of this act and rules made under it,30shall, for the first offence, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend upto five years or with fine which shall not be less than rupees fifty thousand but which may extend upto rupees one lakh, or with both:provided that if offender fails to pay the amount of fine under clause (b), the term of imprisonment shall be extended by another two years:35provided further that if second mishap causing death or permanent injury takes place in any non-nuclear industry by an act of negligence of any person, the operations in that industry shall be stopped forthwith| offences    ||-------------|| industries |4013 where a contravention under this act is committed by a private company or jointventure industry, the owner, or the majority shareholding person, who, at the time the offence was committed, was directly in charge of, and was responsible to the conduct of business of the industry shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordinglyoffences by government department14 where a contravention under this act is committed by any department of thegovernment, the head of that department shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly45non-nuclear industrial mishap relief fund15 (1) the appropriate government shall, by notification in the official gazette, constitute a fund to be known as non-nuclear industrial mishap relief fund which shall be utilized for paying in accordance with provisions of this act relief under the award made by claims commissioner(2) the fund shall be constituted by the grants from the central government and the state governments in such proportions as may be prescribed from time to time5(3) the appropriate government shall, by notification in official gazette, specify the authority in which the fund shall vest and the manner in which the fund shall be administeredoverriding effects16 the provisions of this act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistentcontained herewith in any other law for time being in force17 the provisions of the act shall be in addition to and not derogation of any otherlaw for the time in forceact not in derogation of any other law10power to make rules18 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rulesfor carrying out the purposes of this act15(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of  parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement of objects and reasonsnon-nuclear industrial mishaps causing injury or danger to life in respect of persons engaged in such sectors or industries are on the rise in the country and the affected people are not adequately covered by relevant laws in respect of such industries, which result into the affected individuals or his/their family/families not getting adequate compensation or the offender getting away with mild charges being made against him or the concerned industry's management it is, therefore, need of the hour that law be passed in this regard for stringent punishment and adequate compensation before the situation goes beyond controlthe public liability insurance act, 1991 was supposed to reflect post-bhopal concernsdespite amendments providing for minimal insurance and interim relief, it proved to be a damp squib insurance does not reflect claims the act is barely used therefore, there is a pressing need for a law to ensure all such disasters other than nuclear ones are covered under it and victims are paid adequate and timely compensationhence this billnew delhi;ranjeet ranjannovember 15, 2016 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides that the appropriate government shall appoint one or more claims commissioner to adjudicate claims for compensation with respect to non-nuclear industrial mishap clause 5 of the bill provides for salary and allowances payable to claims commissioner clause 6 provides for payments to persons associated for adjudication of claims by the claims commissioner clause 7 provides for wide publicity to be given for inviting application for claims clause 11 provides for a compensation of rupees ten lakh in case of death caused by non-nuclear industrial mishaps in the country and compensation to injured person which may vary from rupees two lakh to five lakh depending upon the nature of injuries clause 15 provides for establishment of  non-nuclear industrial mishap relief fund the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve recurring as well as non-recurring expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a recurring expenditure of about rupees five hundred crore would involve from the consolidated fund of indiaa non-recurring expenditure of about rupees one hundred crore is also likely to be involved memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 17 of the bill gives power to the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character———— a billto provide for stringent punishment and adequate compensation for non-nuclear industrial mishaps in the country and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shrimati ranjeet ranjan, mp)gmgipmrnd—3371ls(s3)—30-11-2016