RS passes Bill seeking death for oil pipeline damage

Wilfully damaging an oil pipeline can now result in death sentence,according to parliament.

Wilfully damaging an oil pipeline can now result in death sentence. The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines Acquisition of Right of User in Land Amendment Bill,2010,which provides for a jail term of not less than 10 years for willful destruction of oil pipelines. The punishment may extend to life imprisonment or death. The Lok Sabha has already passed the Bill.

The amendment is aimed at curbing incidents of pilferage and sabotage of oil and gas pipelines. The Act earlier provided for a jail term of up to three years for sabotage and pilferage.

BJPs Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Congresss Birender Singh suggested that farmers be made stakeholders in the protection of pipelines passing through their land.

Replying to the debate,Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas R P N Singh said the provision for death penalty would be applicable in rarest of rare cases against mafias and saboteurs.

The Rajya Sabha also passed a Bill to enable the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research to set up of an academy of scientific and innovative research. The passage of the Bill,however,was not easy. BSP,Left and AIADMK members objected to consideration of the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research Bill,2011 as soon as Science and Technology Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh moved it. The House had to be adjourned for half-an-hour and when it was reconvened,Deshmukh gave an assurance that the reservation policy for SC/ST and OBCs would apply to the academy as well.

Adarsh inquiry panel gets extension

The judicial commission formed to inquire into the Adarsh Housing Society has been granted another extension of six months to complete its work and submit a report,said government sources.

The term of the commission,which was formed to probe the alleged irregularities and ownership of land,expires in early January next year.

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The commission is looking into the land ownership of Adarsh Society,if the land was reserved for Kargil war martyrs,the reservation of flats,the expansion of nearby Prakash Pethe Road,the change in reservation of the BEST civic plot,the violation of Coastal Regulation Zone norms and the role of bureaucrats.

The commission had sought an extension till August 2012 to complete its work.