If our concerns not addressed, no support to N-bill: BJP

BJP today said it has already conveyed its point of view on the developments on nuclear liability bill to the government and will wait for the UPA regime to formulate its response in Parliament and then take a call on the issue.

BJP on Tuesday said it has already conveyed its point of view on the developments on nuclear liability bill to the government and will wait for the UPA regime to formulate its response in Parliament and then take a call on the issue.

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If BJP's concerns, which the government has been apprised of, are not addressed in the draft of the bill that the government is likely to table in Parliament tomorrow, then the Congress-led dispensation will have to go without its support to the legislation, party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.

"We (BJP) have suggested the formulation on civil nuclear bill in the meeting between Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan. We shall wait for a formulation from the government, see what they have to say and await the outcome in Parliament," he said.

Jaitley had reportedly told Chavan that the government should go by the draft finalised by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology on the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Bill, 2010.

BJP has registered its objection to the addition of the clause in 17(B) stating that the operator had a right of recourse from the supplier only if the intent of the latter was to cause nuclear damage.

Earlier, after objection from BJP and the Left, the Union Cabinet had dropped the use of "and" between Clause 17 (A) and (B) which fixed liability for compensation only if "willful negligence" or "latent or patent defect" was found in the supply of equipment. The opposition parties want a "no-fault liability" from the operator.