NEW DELHI: The Union government on Friday introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha seeking to extend the application of domestic laws to research stations set up by India in the Antarctic region. The Opposition objected to the bill claiming that the government "wants to take bureaucracy to Antarctica as well".
The Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022, notes the increased tourism to Antarctica and the growing presence of Indian scientists in the continent, and states that this requires a domestic legislation on Antarctica consistent with its obligations as a member of the Antarctic Treaty.
The bill seeks to prohibit Indian expedition to Antarctica or carrying out certain activities there without a permit or authorisation of another Party to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty.
Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy said: "The government now wants to take bureaucracy to Antarctica as well and how India can make a law for a territory it does not own." Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury demanded that the bill be referred to a Select Committee.
Union Minister of Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh said international treaties require domestic laws to be extended to the research stations of respective countries to check unlawful activities. "In the Antarctic Treaty, it was made mandatory for signatories that 'whichever area is occupied by your set up, you enforce your country's law'," he said.