bill no liii of 2014 the  anti-hijacking   bill,  2014 a billto give effect to the convention for the suppression of unlawful seizure of aircraft and for matters connected therewithwhereas a convention for the suppression of unlawful seizure of aircraft was signed at the hague on the 16th day of  december, 1970;65 of 1982and whereas india acceded to the said convention and enacted the anti-hijacking act, 1982 to give effect to the provisions of the convention;and whereas india has signed the protocol supplementary to the convention at beijing on the 10th day of  september, 2010 which deals with unlawful acts against civil aviation by new types of threats which require comprehensive amendments to the said act;and whereas it is considered expedient that the unlawful acts of seizure or exercise of control of aircraft which jeopardize safety of persons and property is a matter of great concern to be addressed effectively by making suitable provisions for giving effect to the convention and the protocol and for matters connected therewithbe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-fifth year of the republic of india as follows:— chapter i preliminary1  (1) this act may be called the anti-hijacking act, 20145(2) it extends to the whole of india and, save as otherwise provided in this act, it applies also to any offence thereunder committed outside india by any personshort title, extent, application and commencement(3) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appointdefinitions2   in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,––1034 of 2008(a) "agency" means the national investigation agency constituted undersection  3 of the national investigation agency act, 2008;(b) "aircraft" means any aircraft, whether or not registered in india, other than amilitary aircraft or an aircraft used in customs or police service;(c) "aircraft registered in india" means an aircraft which is for the time beingregistered in india;15(d) "convention country" means a country in which the hague convention isfor the time being in force;20(e) "hague convention" means the convention for the suppression of unlawfulseizure of aircraft signed at the hague on the 16th day of december, 1970 and includes the protocol supplementary to the convention signed at  beijing on the 10th day of september, 2010;( f ) "military aircraft" means an aircraft of the naval, military, air force or any otherarmed forces of any country and includes every aircraft commanded for the time being by a person in any such force detailed for the purpose;(g) "notification" means a notification published in the official gazette25 chapter ii hijacking and connected offenceshijacking3 (1) whoever unlawfully and intentionally seizes or exercises control of an aircraft inservice by force or threat thereof, or by coercion, or by any other form of intimidation, or by any technological means, commits the offence of hijacking30(2) a person shall also be deemed to have committed the offence of hijacking specifiedin sub-section (1), if, such person––(a)  makes a threat to commit such offence or unlawfully and intentionally causesany person to receive such threat under circumstances which indicate that the threat is credible; or35(b) attempts to commit  or abets the commission of  such offence; or (c) organises or directs others to commit  such offence  or the offence specified in clause (a) or clause (b) above;40(d) participates as an accomplice in  such offence or  the offence specified in clause (a) or clause (b) above;45(e) unlawfully and intentionally assists another person to evade investigation, prosecution or punishment, knowing that such person has committed any such offence or  the offence specified in clause (a) or clause (b) or clause (c) or clause (d) above, or that such person is wanted for criminal prosecution by law enforcement authorities for such an offence or has been sentenced for such an offence(3) a person also commits the offence of hijacking, when committed intentionally, whether or not any of the offences specified in sub-section (1) or in clause (a) of sub-section (2) is actually committed or attempted, either or both of the following:–5(a) agreeing with one or more other persons to commit an offence specified insub-section (1) or in clause (a)  of sub-section (2), involving an act undertaken by one of the participants in furtherance of the agreement; or(b) contributing in any manner to the commission of an offence specified insub-section (1) or in clause (a) of sub-section (2) by a group of persons acting with a common purpose and such contribution shall either—10(i) be made with the aim of furthering the general criminal activity or purposeof the group, where such activity or purpose involves the commission of such an offence; or(ii)  be made in the knowledge of the intention of the group to commit suchoffence15(4) for the purposes of this act, an aircraft shall be considered to be "in service" fromthe beginning of the pre-flight preparation of the aircraft by ground personnel or by the crew for a specific flight until twenty-four hours after any landing and in the case of a forced landing, the flight shall be deemed to continue until the competent authorities take over the responsibility for the aircraft and for persons and property on board204 whoever commits the offence of hijacking shall be punished––punishment for hijacking(a) with death, where such offence results in the death of a hostage or of asecurity personnel; or(b) with imprisonment for life which shall mean imprisonment for the remainderof that person's natural life and with fine,25and the movable and immovable property of such person shall also be liable to be confiscatedpunishment for acts of violence connected with hijacking5  whoever, being a person committing the offence of hijacking of an aircraft, commits, in connection with such offence, any act of violence against any passenger or member of the crew of such aircraft, shall be punished with the same punishment with which he would have been punishable under any law for the time being in force in india if such act had been committed in india302 of 1974conferment of powers of investigations, etc6 (1)  for the purposes of this act,  the central government may, notwithstandinganything contained in the code of criminal procedure, 1973, by notification, confer on anyofficer of the central government or any officer of the agency, powers of arrest, investigation and prosecution exercisable by a police officer under the said code35(2)  all officers of police and all officers of government are hereby required andempowered to assist the officer of the central government referred to in sub-section (1) in the execution of the provisions of this actjurisdiction407 (1) subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), where an offence under section 3 orsection 5 is committed outside india, the person committing such offence may be dealt with in respect thereof as if such offence had been committed at any place within india at which he may be found(2) no court shall take cognizance of an offence punishable under section 3 or section 5which is committed outside india unless,––(a) such offence is committed within the territory of india; (b) such offence is committed against or on board an aircraft registered in india;45(c) such offence is committed on board and the aircraft in which the offence iscommitted lands in india with the alleged offender still on board;(d) such offence is committed against or on board an aircraft which is for the timebeing leased without crew to a lessee who has his principal place of business or where he has no such place of business, his permanent residence is in india;505designated court1034 of 20082 of 1974152 of 1974offences triable by designated court202 of 197425 302 of 197435402 of 1974 2 of 1974(e) such offence is committed by or against a citizen of  india; (f) such offence is committed by a stateless person whose habitual residence is in the territory of  india;(g) such offence is committed by the alleged offender who is present in india but not extradited under section 11 8 (1) for the purpose of providing for speedy trial, the state government shall, with the concurrence of the chief justice of the high court, by notification, specify a court of sessions to be a designated court for such area or areas as may be specified in the notification(2) notwithstanding the provisions of sub-section (1), the special court constituted under section 11 or, as the case may be, under section 22 of the national investigation agency act, 2008 shall be the designated court for the purposes of this act in case where the power of arrest, investigation and prosecution is exercised by the agency under sub-section (1) of section 6(3) notwithstanding anything contained in the code of criminal procedure, 1973, a designated court shall, as far as practicable, hold the trial on a day-to-day basis9 (1) notwithstanding anything contained in the code of criminal procedure, 1973,–(a) all offences under this act shall be triable by the designated court  referred to in section 8(b) where a person who is accused or suspected of the commission of an offence under this act is forwarded to the magistrate under sub-section (2) or sub-section (2a) of section 167 of the code of criminal procedure, 1973, such magistrate may authorise detention of such person  in such custody,  as he thinks fit, for a period not exceeding thirty days in the whole, where such magistrate is a judicial magistrate, and seven days in the whole, where such magistrate is an executive magistrate:provided that the magistrate may, if he considers that the detention of such person is not required,––(i) when such person is forwarded to him as aforesaid; or (ii) upon or at any time before the expiry of the period of detention authorised by him, he shall order such person to be forwarded to the designated court having jurisdiction;(c)  the designated  court may exercise, in relation to the person forwarded to it under clause (b), the same power which a magistrate having  jurisdiction to try a case may exercise under section 167 of the code of criminal procedure, 1973, in relation to an accused person in such case who  has been forwarded  to him under that section;(d) the designated court may, upon perusal of the report filled by the agency or a complaint made by an officer of the central government, or the state government, as the case may be, authorised in this behalf, take cognizance  of the offence without the accused being committed to it for trial (2) when trying an offence under this act, a designated court may also try an offence other than an offence under this act, which the accused may, under the code of criminal procedure, 1973, be charged at the same trial10  save as otherwise provided in this act, the provisions of the code of criminal procedure, 1973 shall apply to the proceedings before a designated court and the person conducting a prosecution before a designated court shall be deemed to be a public prosecutorapplication of code to proceedings before designated court chapter iii miscellaneousprovisions as to extradition11 (1) the offences under section 3 and section 5 shall be deemed to have been included as extraditable offences and provided for in all the extradition treaties made by india with convention countries and which extend to, and are binding on, india on the date of commencement of this act34 of 1962(2) for the purposes of the application of the extradition act, 1962 to offences underthis act, any aircraft registered in a convention country shall, at any time while that aircraft is in service, be deemed to be within the jurisdiction of that country, whether or not it is for the time being also within the jurisdiction of any other country510(3) none of the offences mentioned in section 3 shall be regarded, for the purposes ofextradition or mutual legal assistance, as a political offence or as an offence connected with a political offence or as an offence inspired by political motives and a request for extradition or for mutual legal assistance based on such an offence shall not be refused on the sole ground that it concerns a political offence or an offence connected with a political offence or an offence inspired by political motives2 of 1974provision as to bail12 (1) notwithstanding anything contained in the code of criminal procedure, 1973,no person accused of an offence punishable under this act shall, if in custody, be released on bail  or on his own bond, unless,––-(a) the public prosecutor has been given an opportunity to oppose theapplication for such release; and15(b) where public prosecutor opposes the application, the designated court issatisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail2 of 197420(2) the limitations on granting of bail as specified in sub-section (1) are in addition tothe limitation under the code of criminal procedure, 1973, or any other law for the time being in force, on granting bail2 of 1974(3) nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to affect the special powers ofthe high court regarding bail under section 439 of the code of criminal procedure, 197325contracting parties to convention13 the central government may, by notification, certify as to who are the contractingparties to the hague convention and to what extent they have availed themselves of the provisions of the convention, and any such notification shall be conclusive evidence of the matters certified therein3014 (1) if the central government is satisfied that the requirements of sub-section (2)have been satisfied in relation to any aircraft, it may, by notification, direct that such aircraft shall, for the purposes of this act, be treated as registered in such convention country as may be specified in the notificationpower to treat certain aircraft to be registered in conventioncountries35(2) where the convention countries establish joint air transport operating organisations or international operating agencies, which operate aircraft which are subject to joint or international registration, shall, by appropriate means, designate for each aircraft, the country among them which shall exercise the jurisdiction and have the attributes of the country of registry for the purposes of the convention and shall give notice thereof to the secretary general of the international civil aviation organisation who shall communicate the notice to all convention countries15 no prosecution for an offence under this act shall be instituted except with the previous sanction of the central government40previous sanction necessary for prosecution16  in a   prosecution for an offence under section 3 or section 5,  if it is proved  that–presumption as to offences under sections 3 and 5(a) the arms, ammunitions or explosives were recovered from the possession ofthe accused and there is reason to believe  that such arms, ammunitions or explosives of similar nature were used in the commission of such offence; or45(b) there is evidence of use of force, threat of  force or any other  form ofintimidation caused to  the crew or passengers in connection with the commission of such offence,the designated court shall presume, unless the contrary is proved, that the accused has committed such offenceprotection of action taken in good faith17 (1) no suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person foranything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of the provisions of this act5(2) no suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against the central government for anydamage caused or likely to be caused for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of the provisions of this act10powers of investigating officers to seize or attach property18 (1) where any officer, referred to in section 6, while conducting an inquiry orinvestigation has a reason to believe that any property, movable or immovable, or both,  is relatable to the commission of the offence in relation to which such inquiry or investigation is being conducted, is likely to be concealed, transferred or dealt with in any manner which will result in disposal of such property, he may make an order for seizing such property and where it is not practicable to seize such property, he may make an order of attachment directing that such property shall not be transferred or otherwise dealt with, except with the prior permission of the officer making such order, and a copy of such order shall be served on the person concerned15 (2) any order made under sub-section (1) shall have no effect unless the said order isconfirmed by an order of the designated court, within a period of forty-eight hours of its being made20(3) the designated court may either confirm or revoke the order of seizure or attachmentreferred to in sub-section (2)(4) notwithstanding the confirmation of the order by the designated court under sub-section (3), any person aggrieved by the order of attachment made under sub-section (1), may make an application to the designated court for revocation of said order within a period of thirty days from the date of confirmation of the order under sub-section (3)25confiscation and forfeiture of property19  where any order is made by the designated court under section 4 for confiscationof movable or immovable property or both, of the accused,  then, such property shall stand forfeited to the government free from all encumbrances:30provided that the designated court may, during the period of such trial, order that allor any of the properties, movable or immovable, or both, belonging to the accused be attached, and in case such trial ends in conviction, then, the property so attached shall stand forfeited to government free from all encumbrances20 (1) the central government may, by notification, make rules for carrying out the provisions of this actgeneral power to make rules3540(2) every rule made under this act by the central government 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 successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule of both 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 rule21 (1) the anti-hijacking act, 1982 is hereby repealedrepeal and savings65 of 1982(2)  the repeal of the said act shall not affect––4550 (a) the previous operation of, or anything duly done or suffered under, or anyaction taken or purported to have been done or taken including any notification, order or notice made or issued, or any appointment, confirmation or declaration made or any authorisation granted or any document or instrument executed or any direction given, under the act so repealed, shall, in so far as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this act; or(b) any  right,  privilege or obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurredunder the said act; or (c) any penalty, forfeiture or punishment incurred in respect of any offenceunder the said act; or5 (d) any investigation, legal proceeding or remedy in respect of any such right,privilege, obligation, liability, penalty, forfeiture or punishment as aforesaid, and, any such investigation, legal proceeding or remedy may be instituted, continued or enforced and any such penalty, forfeiture or punishment may be imposed as if the said act had not been repealed statement  of  objects  and  reasonsthe hijacking incidents which have taken place in the recent past including the hijacking of indian airlines flight no ic-814 in 1999 and the hijacking incident in the united states of america on the 11th september, 2001 have shown civilian aircrafts being used as missiles for causing mass destruction subsequent attempts worldwide to hijack aircrafts and threats by the outlawed groups or organisations have necessitated a fresh and thorough examination of the preparedness of all concerned to face such exigencies it has, therefore, become necessary to reassess the strengths and weaknesses of the existing strategies for handling such exigencies2 further, the beijing protocol, 2010 to which india is a signatory, brought out new offences, enlarging the scope of hijacking, expanding the jurisdiction and strengthening extradition and mutual assistance regimes and hence requiring comprehensive amendments to the anti hijacking act, 1982 (65 of 1982) the present law has insufficient penalties to deal with these new situations and is not deterrent enough to offenders and therefore, it is necessary to cover all aspects of hijacking by offenders and conspirators and to make the law more stringent by award of death penalty for such offences therefore, a need is felt to enact a new legislation by repealing the anti-hijacking act, 19823 the anti-hijacking bill, 2014, inter-alia, seeks—(a) to expand the scope of the definition of hijacking; (b) to define the term "in-service" so as to cover the offence against aircraft even when it is on the ground or under preparation for departure;(c) to provide capital punishment to all offenders including hijackers whose actions result in deaths of hostages and security men while carrying out the act of hijacking;(d) to provide capital punishment to conspirators and abductors, besides hijackers, for any of the offences committed under the act so that all persons involved directly or indirectly in hijacking get similar punishment;(e) to include confiscation of movable and immovable property belonging to offenders as part of the punishment;(f) to widen the provisions relating to jurisdiction and extradition; (g) to confer powers of arrest, investigation and prosecution on officers of the central government and to empower them to seize and attach the properties belonging to offenders;(h) to provide that all offences under the act shall be triable only by the designated court;4 the bill seeks to achieve the above objectsnew delhi;ashok gajapathi raju pasupati the 10th december,  2014 financial  memorandumsub-clause (1) of clause 6 empowers the central government to confer on any officer of the central government with the powers of arrest, investigation and prosecution exercisable by a police officer under the code of criminal procedure, 1973 as the bill proposes to utilise the existing machinery of the government and not create any new post, no additional expenditure of recurring or non-recurring nature is envisagedsub-clause (1) of clause 8 empowers the state government to specify, by notification, and with the concurrence of the chief justice of the high court, a court of sessions to be a designated court, for the purpose of providing speedy trial therefore, no additional expenditure for this purpose is also envisagedsince the bill proposes to utilise the existing machinery of the government and existing courts as designated courts, there would not be any additional expenditure involved therefore, the provisions of the bill, if enacted and brought into operation, would not involve any additional expenditure from the consolidated fund of india memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 20 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules, by notification, for carrying out the provisions of this actthe matters in respect of which rules may be made are generally matters of procedure and 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———— a billto give effect to the convention for the suppression of unlawful seizure of aircraft and for matters connected therewith————(shri ashok gajapathi raju pasupati, minister of civil aviation)gmgipmrnd—3569rs(s3)—11122014