 bill  no 28  of  2020 the aircraft (amendment) bill, 2020 a billfurther to amend the aircraft act, 1934be  it enacted by parliament in the seventy-first year of the republic of india as follows:—1 this act may be called the aircraft (amendment) act, 2020short title2 in the aircraft act, 1934 (hereinafter referred to as the principal act), in section 2,—amendment of section 2xxii of 1934(a) after clause (1), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—5'(1a) "aircraft accidents investigation bureau" means the aircraft accidents investigation bureau constituted under section 4c;'; (b) after clause (2a), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:—'(2b) "bureau of civil aviation security" means the bureau of civil aviation securityconstituted under section 4b;10(2c) "directorate general of civil aviation" means the directorate general of civil aviation constituted under section 4a;'3 for section 4a of the principal act, the following sections shall be substituted, namely:—substitution of new sections 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d for section 4adirectorate general of civil aviation5"4a (1)  the central government may constitute a body to be known as the directorate general of civil aviation, which shall be headed by an officer designated as the director general of civil aviation to be appointed in this behalf by the central government by notification in the official gazette(2) the directorate general of civil aviation shall be responsible for carrying out the safety oversight and regulatory functions in respect of matters specified in this act or the rules made thereunder10(3) the administration of the directorate general of civil aviation shall vest in the director general of civil aviation15(4) the central government may, by an order published in the official gazette, direct that any power exercisable by the director general of civil aviation may also be exercisable by any other officer or authority specially empowered in this behalf by the central governmentbureau of civil aviation security4b (1)  the central government may constitute a body to be known as the bureau of civil aviation security, which shall be headed by an officer designated as the director general of bureau of civil aviation security to be appointed in this behalf by the central government by notification in the official gazette20(2) the bureau of civil aviation security shall be responsible for carrying out the regulatory and oversight functions in respect of matters relating to civil aviation security specified in this act or the rules made thereunder(3) the administration of the bureau of civil aviation security shall vest in the director general of bureau of civil aviation security25(4) the central government may, by an order published in the official gazette, direct that any power exercisable by the director general of bureau of civil aviation security may also be exercisable by any other officer or authority specially empowered in this behalf by the central government30aircraft accidents investigation bureau4c (1) the central government may constitute a body to be known as the aircraft accidents investigation bureau, which shall be headed by an officer designated as the director general of aircraft accidents investigation bureau to be appointed in this behalf by the central government by notification in the official gazette35(2) the aircraft accidents investigation bureau shall be responsible for carrying out the functions in respect of matters relating to investigation of aircraft accidents or incidents specified in this act or the rules made thereunder(3) the administration of the aircraft accidents investigation bureau shall vest in the director general of aircraft accidents investigation bureau40(4) the central government may, by an order published in the official gazette, direct that any power exercisable by the director general of aircraft accidents investigation bureau may also be exercisable by any other officer or authority specially empowered in this behalf by the central governmentsuperintendence of central government454d the superintendence of the directorate general of civil aviation, the bureau of civil aviation security and the aircraft accidents investigation bureau shall vest in the central government, which shall have the power to issue directions to each of these organisations, on any matters falling under sub-section (2) of sections 4a, 4b and 4c, respectively, if it considers necessary and expedient so to do in the public interest''4 in section 5 of the principal act, in sub-section (2),—amendment of section 5(i) after clause (gc), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—5"(gd) the regulation of air navigation services, that is, aeronautical information services, aeronautical charting and cartography services, aeronautical meteorological services, search and rescue services, procedure for air navigation services and aircraft operations other than those referred to in clause (gb) and any other matter relating to air navigation services;"; (ii) clause (qq) shall be relettered as clause (qa) thereof and in clause (qa) as so relettered, the word "and" occurring at the end shall be omitted;(iii) after clause (qa), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:—10"(qb) safety oversight and regulatory functions; (qc) regulatory and oversight functions in respect of matters relating to civil aviation security; and"5 in section 5a of the principal act,—amendment of section 5a15(i) in sub-section (1), for the brackets, letters and word "(gc), (h), (i), (m) and(qq)", the brackets, letters and word "(gc), (gd), (h), (i), (m), (qa) and (qb)" shall be substituted;(ii) after sub-section (1), the following sub-sections shall be inserted, namely:—20 25"(1a) the director general of bureau of civil aviation security or anyother officer specially empowered in this behalf by the central government may, from time to time, by order, issue directions, consistent with the provisions of this act and the rules made thereunder, with respect to any of the matters specified in clauses (e), (f), (gc) and (qc) of sub-section (2) of section 5, to any person or persons using any aerodrome, or engaged in the aircraft operations, air traffic control, maintenance and operation of aerodrome, or safeguarding civil aviation against acts of unlawful interference, in any case where the director general of bureau of civil aviation security or such other officer is satisfied that in the interests of the security of india or  to ensure security of civil aviation operations, it is necessary so to do30(1b) on receipt of a representation from any person or otherwise, if it considers necessary and expedient to do so in the public interest, the central government may review any order passed under sub-section (1) or sub-section (1a) and issue directions to the director general of civil aviation or director general of bureau of civil aviation security, as the case may be, to rescind or modify such order";35(iii) in sub-section (2), after the word, brackets and figure "sub-section (1)", the words, brackets, figures and letters "or sub-section (1a) or sub-section (1b)" shall be inserted 6 in section 10 of the principal act, in sub-section (1a) ,—amendment of section 1040(i) for the word, brackets and letters "clause (qq)", the word, brackets and letters "clause (qa)"shall be substituted;(ii) for the words "ten lakh rupees" wherever they occur, the words "one crore rupees" shall be substituted457 after section 10 of the principal act, the following sections shall be inserted, namely:—insertion of new sections10a and 10badjudication of penalties"10a (1) notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (2) of section 10, the central government may, in making any rule under section 4, 5, 7, 8, 8a or section 8b, provide for imposition of penalty not exceeding rupees one crore for the contravention of any rule for which no other punishment has been provided elsewhere in the act, or in the rules made thereunder, for such contravention5(2) the central government may, by an order published in the official gazette, appoint such number of officers not below the rank of deputy secretary to the government of india or equivalent, as it considers necessary, to be designated officers for adjudging penalty under sub-section (1), in such manner as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules10(3) the central government may, while appointing designated officers under sub-section (2), also specify their jurisdiction in that order15(4) where the designated officer is satisfied that any contravention of the provisions of the rules has been committed by any person, he may, by an order in writing, impose penalty on such person stating the nature of contravention, the provision of rules which has been contravened and the reasons for imposing such penalty:provided that the designated officer shall, before imposing any penalty, give a reasonable opportunity of being heard to such person20(5) any person aggrieved by an order made under sub-section (4) may prefer an appeal to an appellate officer having jurisdiction in the matter who is next higher in rank to the designated officer who has passed such order25(6) every appeal under sub-section (5) shall be filed within thirty days from the date on which the copy of the order made by the designated officer is received by the aggrieved person and shall be in such form and manner, and be accompanied by such fees, as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules(7) the appellate officer may, after giving the parties to the appeal an opportunity of being heard, pass such order as he thinks fit, confirming, modifying or setting aside the order appealed against30cancellation of licence or certificate or approval10b notwithstanding anything contained in this act, if any person contravenes any of the provisions of this act or the rules made thereunder, the licence, certificate or approval issued to such person under this act may be suspended or cancelled in such manner as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules"amendment of section 118 in section 11 of the principal act, for the words "ten lakh rupees", the words"one crore rupees" shall be substituted35amendment of section 11a9 in section 11a of the principal act, for the words "ten lakh rupees", the words"one crore rupees" shall be substitutedamendment of section 11b10 in section 11b of the principal act, in sub-section (1), for the words"ten lakh rupees", the words "one crore rupees" shall be substituted4011 after section 12 of the principal act, the following sections shall be inserted, namely:—insertion of new sections 12a and 12bcomposition of offences2 of 197445"12a(1) notwithstanding anything contained in the code of criminal procedure, 1973, any offence punishable under sections 10,11,11a,11b and section 12 or under any rules made thereunder, may be compounded, either before or after the institution of any prosecution, by the director general of civil aviation or director general of bureau of civil aviation security or director general of aircraft accidents investigation bureau, as the case may be, in such manner as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules(2) nothing contained in sub-section (1) shall apply to an offence committed by a person for the second time or thereafter within a period of five years from the date of commission of a similar offence which was earlier compounded or for which such person was earlier convicted5(3) every officer referred to in sub-section (1) shall exercise the powers tocompound an offence, subject to the direction, control and supervision of the central government(4) every application for the compounding of an offence shall be made in such manner as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules10(5) where any offence is compounded before the institution of any prosecution, no prosecution shall be instituted in relation to such offence by an officer referred to in sub-section (1) against the offender in relation to whom the offence is so compounded15(6) where the composition of any offence is made after the institution of any prosecution, such composition shall be brought to the notice of the court in which the prosecution is pending, in writing, by the officer referred to in sub-section (1), and on such notice of the composition of the offence being given, the person against whom the offence is so compounded shall be discharged20(7) the composition of an offence under this section shall have the effect of anacquittal of the accused with whom the offence has been compounded(8) no offence specified in sub-section (1) shall be compounded except as provided in this sectioncognizance of offences2512b (1) no court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under thisact, save on a complaint made by or with the previous sanction in writing by the director general of civil aviation or director general of bureau of civil aviation security or director general of aircraft accidents investigation bureau, as the case may be30(2) the complaint referred to in sub-section (1) shall be made within a period ofone year from the date on which the offence came to the knowledge of the director general of civil aviation or director general of bureau of civil aviation security or director general of aircraft accidents investigation bureau, as the case may be2 of 197435(3) notwithstanding anything contained in the code of criminal procedure, 1973, no court inferior to that of a metropolitan magistrate or magistrate of the first class shall try the offences under this act"12 in section 19 of the principal act, in sub-section (1),—amendment of section 19(a) after the words "or air forces of the union", the words "or other armed forces of the union constituted by any law for the time being in force"  shall be inserted;40(b) the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:—"provided that any aircraft belonging to an armed force of the union other than naval, military or air forces of the union, for which the provisions of this act and the rules made thereunder are applicable on the date of commencement of the aircraft (amendment) act, 2020, shall continue to be so governed by this act and the rules made thereunder till such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, specify"transitional provisions relating to existing authorities513  anything done, or any action or decision taken, or any order or direction issued, by any authority set up pursuant to the provisions of the principal act or rules made thereunder, prior to the date of coming into force of this act,  shall, insofar as such action or decision or direction are relatable to the functions of the directorate general of civil aviation or the bureau of civil aviation security or the aircraft accidents investigation bureau, as the case may be, shall be deemed to have been done or taken or issued by the directorate general of civil aviation or the bureau of civil aviation security or the aircraft accidents investigation bureau, as the case may be, constituted under sections 4a, 4b and 4c, respectively, of this act statement of objects and reasonsthe aircraft act, 1934 (the act) was enacted to make better provision for the control of the manufacture, possession, use, operation, sale, import and export of aircraft it makes provisions for securing the safety of aircraft operations in india and carrying out civil aviation operations as per the internationally accepted standards, procedures and practices as laid down by the international civil aviation  organisation (icao)2 the icao, under its universal safety oversight audit programme and the universal security audit programme, conducts regular safety and security audits of all the countries which are signatory to the chicago convention to ensure that the signatories are fulfilling their obligation of safety and security oversight functions the federal aviation administration of the united states of america also conducts safety audits of countries whose airlines operate to the united states of america under its international aviation safety assessment programme india, as a signatory, is also subjected to such periodical audits by icao and federal aviation administration3  the audit conducted by the icao in the years 2012 and 2015 have indicated a need to amend the act to give proper recognition to the regulators under the act, to enhance the maximum quantum of fines and to empower the departmental officers to impose financial penalties on individuals or organisations involved in violations of the legal provisions and to include certain areas of air navigation services for rule making purpose under section 5 of the act4 further, based on the repeated requests from border security force for exemption under rule 160 of the aircraft rules, 1937, a need was felt to keep the aircraft and personnel of border security force or any other armed forces of the union operating such aircraft, outside the purview of the act from such date the government may decide5   the aircraft (amendment) bill, 2020 which seeks to give effect to the aforementioned decisions, inter alia, provides for the following, namely:—(a) to define the expressions "directorate general of civil aviation", "bureau of civil aviation security" and "aircraft accidents investigation bureau";(b) to empower the central government to constitute the directorate general of civil aviation, bureau of civil aviation security and aircraft accidents investigation bureau under the act and to specify their responsibilities thereof;(c) to empower the central government to issue directions to the directorate general of civil aviation, bureau of civil aviation security and aircraft accidents investigation bureau on any matter if it is considered necessary so to do in public interest;(d) to empower the central government to review any order passed by the director general of civil aviation and the director general of civil aviation security and also direct them to rescind or modify such order;(e) to include regulation of all areas of air navigation services; (f) to empower the bureau of civil aviation security or any authorised officer to issue directions;(g) to enhance the maximum limit of fine from the existing ten lakh rupees to one crore rupees;(h) to appoint designated officers for adjudging penalties; (i) to provide for compounding of offences; (j) to keep aircraft belonging to any armed forces of the union other than naval, military or air force outside the purview of the act 6  the bill seeks to achieve the above objectsnew delhi;hardeep  singh  purithe 22nd january, 2020 financial memorandumthe bill if enacted, would not involve any expenditure either recurring or non-recurring from the consolidated fund of india memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 7 of the bill proposes to insert a new section 10a sub-section (2) of the said section empowers the central government to appoint by order published in the official gazette such number of officers not below the rank of deputy secretary to the government of india or equivalent, as it considers necessary, to be designated officers for adjudging penalty under sub-section (1), in such manner as it may provide by rules sub-section (6) of the said section further empowers the central government to provide by rules the form, manner and fees to be accompanied with in respect of appeals to be filed under sub-section (5)  the said clause further proposes to insert a new section 10b, which empowers the central government to make rules to provide for the manner of suspension or cancellation of the licence, certificate or approval issued to any person under the act, if such person contravenes any of the provisions of the act or the rules made thereunder2 clause 11 of the bill proposes to insert a new section 12a, which empowers the central government to make rules to provide for the manner in which offences punishable under sections 10,11,11a,11b and section 12 of the act or under any rules made thereunder, shall be compounded by the director general of civil aviation or director general of bureau of civil aviation security or director general of aircraft accidents investigation bureau, as the case may be sub-section (4) of the said section further empowers the central government to make rules to provide for the manner in which every application for compounding of an offence shall be made3 the matters in respect of which rules may be made under the proposed legislation are matters of procedure or administrative details and it is not practicable to provide for them in the bill itself the delegation of legislative power is, therefore, of a normal character annexure extracts from the aircraft (amendment) act, 1934 (22 of 1934)    safety oversight functions4a the director general of civil aviation or any other officer specially empowered in this behalf by the central government shall perform the safety oversight functions in respect of matters specified in this act or the rules made thereunder5 (1)     power of central government to make rules(2) without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for—    (qq) the prohibition of slaughtering and flaying of animals and of depositing rubbish, filth and other polluted and obnoxious matter within a radius, of ten kilometres from the aerodrome reference point; and     power to issue directions5a (1) the director general of civil aviation or any other officer specially empowered in this behalf by the central government may, from time to time, by order, issue directions, consistent with the provisions of this act and the rules made thereunder, with respect to any of the matters specified, in  [clauses (aa), (b), (c), (e), (f), (g), (ga), (gb), (gc), (h), (i), (m) and(qq) of sub-section (2) of section 5, to any person or persons using any aerodrome or engaged in the aircraft operations, air traffic control, maintenance and operation of aerodrome, communication, navigation, surveillance and air traffic management facilities and safeguarding civil aviation against acts of unlawful interference], in any case where the director general of civil aviation or such other officer is satisfied that in the interests of the security of india or for securing the safety of aircraft operations it is necessary so to do(2) every direction issued under sub-section (1) shall be complied with by the person or persons to whom such direction is issued penalty for act in contravention of rule made under this act10 (1) if any person contravenes any provision of any rule made under clause (1) of sub-section (2) of section 5 prohibiting or regulating the carriage in aircraft of arms, explosives or other dangerous goods, or when required under the rules made under that clause to give information in relation to any such goods gives information which is false and which he either knows or believes to be false or does not believe to be true he, and if he is not the owner, the owner also (unless the owner proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge, consent or connivance) shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to two years and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees(1a) if any person contravenes any provision of any rule made under clause (qq) of sub-section (2) of section 5 prohibiting the slaughter and flaying of animals and of depositing rubbish, filth and other polluted and obnoxious matters within a radious of ten kilometres from the aerodrome reference point, he shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees, or with both 2 of 1974(1b) notwithstanding anything contained in the code of criminal procedure, 1973 anoffence referred to in sub-section (1a) shall be cognizable(2) in making any other rule under section 5 or in making any rule under section 4, section 7, section 8, section 8a or section 8b, the central government may direct that a breach of it shall be punishable with imprisonment for a period which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees, or with bothpenalty for flying so as to cause danger11 whoever wilfully flies any aircraft in such a manner as to cause danger to any person or to any property on land or water or in the air shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees, or with both11a if any person wilfully fails to comply with any direction issued under section 5a, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with bothpenalty for failure to comply with directions issued under section 5a11b (1) if any person wilfully fails to comply with any direction contained in any notification issued under section 9a, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees, or with bothpenalty for failure to comply with directions issued under section 9a    saving of application of act19 (1) nothing in this act or in any order or rule made thereunder other than a rule made under section 8a or under section 8b shall apply to or in respect of any aircraft belonging to or exclusively employed in the naval, military or air forces of the union, or to any person in such forces employed in connection with such aircraft 19 of 1927(2) nothing in this act or in any order or rule made thereunder shall apply to or in respect of any lighthouse to which the indian lighthouse act, 1927 applies or prejudice or affect any right or power exercisable by any authority under that act|     |     |     |     |    ||------|------|------|------|-----| lok  sabha————a bill further to amend the aircraft act, 1934————(shri hardeep singh puri, minister of state for civil aviation)mgipmrnd—4913ls(s3)—29-01-2020 to the aircraft (amendment) bill, 2020 [to be/as introduced in lok sabha]1  page 5, line 34,-   for     "magistrate or magistrate"  read   "magistrate or a magistrate"     new delhi; 31 january, 2019______ magha 11, 1941 (saka) 