The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday pointed out that the move to notify diluted rules for the Civil Nuclear Liability Act was to meet the objections of the United States and demanded its review by Parliament.
Reacting to the government notification, as reported by The Hindu , the party's Polit Bureau said in a statement that the right to recourse for the operator to claim damages from the foreign supplier was limited to the duration of the initial licence period or the product liability period, whichever is longer.
“The initial duration of the licence is normally five years and the product liability period will also be limited. Such rules do not cover a reasonable period of the functioning of the reactor and its equipment,” it said.
“Interestingly, these rules have been notified on the eve of the Prime Minister's meeting with the U.S. President during the Asean summit meeting.
“Obviously these rules have been framed in order to meet the objections of the U.S., which wants the foreign suppliers' liability itself to be nullified,” the statement said.
The CPI(M) demanded that Parliament review the rules and adopt steps to ensure that the spirit and content of the law was not diluted in any way.
