Navy, CG to get powers to try pirates in Indian courts

New Delhi (PTI) - A bill is on the anvil to give
more powers to the Navy and the Coast Guard to deal with
pirates under Indian laws and to try sea brigands in Indian
courts.
Official sources said that as per the provisions of
the proposed legislation, even if a pirate is arrested in
international waters, the Navy and the Coast Guard will have
the power to try them in Indian courts.
The bill proposes changes in the Indian Penal Code and
the Criminal Procedure Code to define piracy as a separate
crime with defined quantum of punishment, while the issue of
repatriating the pirates after they serve the sentence is
being worked out, they said.
The proposed legislation, to be brought in the Monsoon
session, will establish piracy as a crime and have provisions
on dealing with it, they said.
Officials said right now piracy is dealt with under
the provisions of Indian Penal Code and century-old Admiralty
law but the government would now like to have a separate law
with provisions to effectively tackle the problem that takes
place far away from Indian shores.
Under the Bill, the Government is also planning to
give more powers to the Navy and the Coast Guard to take on
the pirates.
They said right now it is the United Nations
Convention on the Law of Sea that defines piracy and there is
a need to adopt a domestic law on the subject.
In the wake of increasing piracy incidents around
India, the Navy and Coast Guard have strengthened their
deployments off the Lakshadweep islands to keep the sea
brigands at bay after they began operating in the region as
well.