[Repealed by Act 19 of 2015, S. 2 and Sch. I, dated 14-5-20152]
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-third Year of the Republic of India as follows
Prefatory Note Statement of Objects and Reasons. The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction was signed on behalf of the Government of India at Paris on the 14th day of January, 1993. The Chemical Weapons Convention Act, 2000 was enacted to give effect to the said Convention and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
2. Sub-section (1) of Section 9 of the Chemical Weapons Convention Act, 2000 confers power upon the Central Government to appoint such of the officers of the National Authority, as it thinks fit, to be enforcement officers for the purposes of the said Act. It is proposed to amend the said sub-section (1) of Section 9 to widen its scope and confer upon the Central Government the power also to appoint any of its officers as enforcement officers under the said Act.
3. Section 16 of the said Act contains provisions for restriction on transfer of any Toxic Chemical or Precursor listed in Schedule 2 in the Annex on Chemical to the said Convention. It provides that no person shall, three years after the 29th day of April, 1997, transfer to or receive from any person, who is not a citizen of a State Party, any Toxic Chemical or Precursor listed in Schedule 2 in the Annex on Chemicals. It is proposed to amend the said section to provide that no person shall transfer to, or receive from, a State which is not a Party to the Convention, any Toxic Chemical or Precursor listed in Schedule 2 in the Annex on Chemicals.
4. The provisions of the aforesaid Act, except Sections 18 and 39, were brought into force on the 1st July, 2005. Section 18 of the aforesaid Act relates to the provisions of registration of person engaged in the production, processing, acquisition, consumption, transfer, import, export or use of any Toxic Chemical or Precursor listed in any of the Schedule 1 or 3 in the Annex on Chemicals to the Convention or, engaged in the production of any Discrete Organic Chemical including Discrete Organic Chemicals containing elements of phosphorous, sulphur or fluorine and Section 39 of the aforesaid Act relates to the punishment for infringement of Section 18. The existing provisions of Section 18 do not specify any threshold limit for registration of chemicals covered under the said Convention. In order to bring the said Section 18 of the Act in alignment with the said Convention and for proper implementation of the said Act, it is proposed to amend the said section, inter alia, to provide that
(a) the scope of sub-sections (1) and (2) shall be subject to such exemption and threshold as may be prescribed by the rules made by the Central Government;
(b) the grant of a certification of the registration under sub-section (4) of the said section shall be subject to such terms and conditions as may be specified by rules made by the Central Government;
(c) every person to whom the certificate of registration is granted shall furnish to the Central Government periodically or as and when required under sub-section (6) such information, declaration and return as may be prescribed by the rules made by the Central Government.
5. Section 42 of the said Act provides for the punishment for contravention in relation to transfer of Toxic Chemicals, etc., listed in Schedule 2 in the Annex on Chemicals. It provides that whoever, in contravention of any provision of this Act, transfers to or receives from any person who is not a citizen of a State Party any Toxic Chemical or Precursor listed in Schedule 2 in the Annex on Chemicals to the Convention, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year but which may extend to term of life and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to one lakh rupees. In the light of the amendment proposed in Section 16, it is proposed to make necessary consequential amendments in Section 42.
6. It is also proposed to make consequential amendments in Section 56 of the said Act which empowers the Central Government to make rules.
7. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objectives.
(1) This Act may be called the Chemical Weapons Convention (Amendment) Act, 2012.
(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
In the Chemical Weapons Convention Act, 2000 (34 of 2000) (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), in Section 9, in sub-section (1),
(a) after the words National Authority , the words or of the Central Government shall be inserted;
(b) the following proviso shall be inserted, namely
Provided that such officers shall fulfil the prescribed criteria. .
For Section 16 of the principal Act, the following section shall be substituted, namely
16. Restriction on transfer of Toxic Chemical or Precursor listed in Schedule 2. No person shall transfer to, or receive from, a State which is not a party to the Convention or any person who is not a citizen of a State Party, any Toxic Chemical or Precursor listed in Schedule 2 in the Annex on Chemicals to the Convention. .
In Section 18 of the principal Act,
(a) in sub-section (1), in the opening portion, for the words Every person who is , the words Subject to such exemptions and thresholds as may be prescribed, every person who is shall be substituted;
(b) in sub-section (2), in the opening portion, for the words No person, who after the commencement of this Act , the words Subject to such exemptions and thresholds as may be prescribed, no person, who after the coming into force of this section shall be substituted;
(c) in sub-section (4), after the words a certificate of registration , the words subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed shall be inserted;
(d) after sub-section (5), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely
(6) Every person, to whom a certificate or registration is granted under sub-section (4), shall furnish to the Central Government periodically, or, as and when required, such information, declaration or return as may be prescribed. .
In Section 42 of the principal Act, for the words any person , the words a State which is not a State Party or any person shall be substituted.
In Section 56 of the principal Act, in sub-section (2),
(a) after clause (b), the following clause shall be inserted, namely
(ba) the criteria which the officers are required to fulfil under sub-section (1) of Section 9 ;
(b) for clause (c), the following clause shall be substituted, namely
(c) the exemptions and thresholds under sub-sections (1) and (2) of Section 18, the form of application, the particulars to be contained in the application form, the form of certificate of registration, the manner of making application, the amount of fee payable, the procedure to be followed in granting or cancelling certificate of registration under sub-section (3) of Section 18, the terms and conditions for granting a certificate of registration under sub-section (4) of Section 18, the period for which a renewed certificate of registration may be issued and the amount of fee payable therefor under sub-section (5) of Section 18 and information, declaration or return to be furnished under sub-section (6) of that section; .
1. Received the assent of the President on September 11, 2012 and published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 1, dated 11th September, 2012, pp. 1-2, No. 43
2. Ed.: Act 36 of 2012 repealed by Act 19 of 2015, S. 2 & Sch. I. See also S. 4 of the Repealing and Amending Act, 2015: 4. Savings. The repeal by this Act of any enactment shall not affect any Act in which such enactment has been applied, incorporated or referred to; and this Act shall not affect the validity, invalidity, effect or consequences of anything already done or suffered, or any right, title, obligation or liability already acquired, accrued or incurred, or any remedy or proceeding in respect thereof, or any release or discharge of or from any debt, penalty, obligation, liability, claim or demand, or any indemnity already granted, or the proof of any past act or thing; nor shall this Act affect any principle or rule of law, or established jurisdiction, form or course of pleading, practice or procedure, or existing usage, custom, privilege, restriction, exemption, office or appointment, notwithstanding that the same respectively may have been in any manner affirmed, recognised or derived by, in or from any enactment hereby repealed; nor shall the repeal by this Act of any enactment provide or restore any jurisdiction, office, custom, liability, right, title, privilege, restriction, exemption, usage, practice, procedure or other matter or thing not now existing or in force.
3. Received the assent of the President on September 11, 2012 and published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 1, dated 11th September, 2012, pp. 1-2, No. 43
4. Received the assent of the President on September 11, 2012 and published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 1, dated 11th September, 2012, pp. 1-2, No. 43
5. Received the assent of the President on September 11, 2012 and published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 1, dated 11th September, 2012, pp. 1-2, No. 43
6. Received the assent of the President on September 11, 2012 and published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 1, dated 11th September, 2012, pp. 1-2, No. 43
7. Received the assent of the President on September 11, 2012 and published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 1, dated 11th September, 2012, pp. 1-2, No. 43
8. Received the assent of the President on September 11, 2012 and published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 1, dated 11th September, 2012, pp. 1-2, No. 43
9. Received the assent of the President on September 11, 2012 and published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 1, dated 11th September, 2012, pp. 1-2, No. 43