Liability rules leave very little recourse

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement following his meeting with President Obama in Bali, that any concerns the United States may have regarding India's nuclear liability regime would have to be resolved “within the four corners of the law” and in accordance with “the law of the land” was timely and assertive. It signalled that India would not be cowered into making legislative amendments to satisfy the demands of American nuclear suppliers, specifically regarding the controversial Section 17 of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, dealing with the right of recourse. Rule 24 revisits the issue of the right of recourse contained in Section 17 of the Act, widely acknowledged as a major sticking point for nuclear suppliers. At the time of the passing of the Act however, the government and Parliament favoured retention of Section 17 in its current form, well aware of these concerns, since they reasoned that such a provision would afford greater protection to victims and conform with India's own fundamental principle of public policy of not providing immunity to those at fault, especially for those responsible for causing a disaster of the scale of a nuclear accident. One would have hoped that having passed an Act that unequivocally privileges India's public policy of holding suppliers at fault liable for damage caused by their acts over the interests of nuclear suppliers in limiting their liability, the government would have had the gumption to stick to its articulated policy position.