The prospect of quick passage of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2010 through Parliament turned brighter on Tuesday with the Opposition BJP saying it was willing to cooperate with the government, though with some riders.

With this, the Left has got marginalised on the issue, given that parties like the SP, BSP and RJD do not have rigid views on the bill.
The parliamentary standing committee on science and technology headed by Congress MP T. Subbarami Reddy, which had been examining the draft bill over several months, is expected to submit its report to both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday. While Dr Subbarami Reddy and Mr Jabir Husain will table it in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Pradeep Tamta and Dr Mirza Mehboob Beg will present the report in the Lok Sabha.
After this, the Union Cabinet will consider the report and then bring in a new bill for consideration and passage, possibly in the current session itself.
The bill is crucial to give effect to the civil nuclear deal reached with the United States recently, and to enable nuclear commerce to take place smoothly with the US and other countries. The government had earlier found it difficult to ensure its passage given the determined opposition to it by the NDA, Left and other parties.
But a series of meetings by the government’s principal political troubleshooter, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, with senior BJP leaders in Parliament over the past few days managed to overcome most of the BJP’s objections to the bill, particularly after the government responded positively to seven key suggestions made by the main Opposition party. Following this, the BJP indicated it would support the bill when it was moved.
Mr Mukherjee, who is also Leader of the Lok Sabha, on Tuesday met BJP parliamentary party chairman L.K. Advani and the Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Ms Sushma Swaraj and Mr Arun Jaitley, and sources said the meeting ended on a positive note with both sides reaching a consensus over the bill.
Among the BJP’s concerns, placed before both the standing committee and the government, was that there should be a provision that the bill deals only with nuclear plants operated by the government or a government-owned company. Also, instead of a cap on the operator’s liability in the event that a mishap takes place, the party wanted this liability to be enhanced to a minimum of Rs 1,500 crores or “such other enhanced amount to be notified from time to time”, instead of the Rs 500-crore compensation cap in the earlier draft, to which the BJP had protested. The party also sought more powers for the claims commissioner to prevent multiple counters for appeal, besides fixing liability for the supplier, among others.
BJP sources said the government had assured it that its recommendation on changes in clauses relating to the “right to recourse” or the operator’s option to pursue liability with the supplier would also be taken care of in the new bill.
The Left parties Tuesday submitted a dissent note on the bill to the standing committee chairman. The CPI(M) accused the BJP of going “soft” on the bill and said the government was trying to “rush it through” Parliament despite the United States clearly indicating it would not lift its embargo on supply of dual-use technology.
“The Prime Minister said in Parliament that nuclear commerce with the US will be conditional on India receiving full civil nuclear cooperation. But the Obama administration is very clear that these technologies will not be transferred,” said CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury. “Why is the Manmohan Singh government trying to rush through the measure? Are they going to give it as a gift to the US President when he comes here (in November 2010)?”
Asked if the Left was coordinating with the Left on the matter, Mr Yechury said there was no convergence of views with the BJP as it was “not firm enough” on these issues, including those on raising the compensation cap and suppliers’ liability. “There are differences (with the BJP).”
Mr Yechury noted that the leaders of the CPI(M), CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc had met Mr Mukherjee on Friday, when they were promised more talks on Monday. “But now we have been informed that the standing committee will take a view on the points we raised, so there is no further discussion with us.”
The Left had wanted all references to the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC) excluded from the proposed bill, saying most countries, including India’s neighbours, had not signed or ratified it. He said if India joined the CSC, it would have to accept there would be no liability on foreign suppliers. The liability would be fixed only on operators, and this would not be in the national interest.
The Left also wanted an increase in the cap on the liability of the operator raised from Rs 500 crores to Rs 10,000 crores in case of a nuclear incident. Mr Yechury said the draft bill at present “virtually exempts” foreign suppliers of nuclear equipment and materials from all liability. The Left wanted the foreign suppliers’ liability to be fixed for supplying “defective” equipment or materials, or those with “faulty design”. It noted that a nuclear accident could be due to faulty equipment or design, so the supplier should be made liable.