Maritime Anti-Piracy Act, 2022

Key aspects

About

Applicability

• It will apply to all parts of the sea adjacent to and beyond the limits of the Exclusive Economic Zone of India.
• It will be applicable beyond 200 nautical miles from the coastline. 

Definition of piracy

• Piracy is defined as any illegal act of violence, detention, or destruction committed against a ship, aircraft, person or property, for private purposes, by the crew or passengers of a private ship or aircraft. 
• Inciting or intentionally facilitating such acts would also qualify as piracy.  It includes any other act that is considered as piratical under international law.
• Piracy also includes voluntary participation in the operations of a pirate ship or aircraft used for piracy.

Definition of ship

• The Act defines ship as vessel or water craft, and
• Seaplanes and other aircraft capable of being used as means of transportation in water.

Personnel authorised for arrest and seizure

• A warship or military aircraft of the Indian Navy,
• A ship or aircraft of the India Coast Guard, or
• Ships or aircraft on government service, and authorised for such purpose.
• Coastal police stations are now empowered to handle piracy cases.

Offences and penalty

• Attempt to cause death- Life imprisonment or death.
• Attempt to commit or aid piracy- up to 10 years of imprisonment, or fine, or both.
• Participating, organising or directing others to commit piracy- up to 14 years of imprisonment or fine or both.

Extraditable offences

• The accused can be transferred to any country for prosecution with which India has signed an extradition treaty.
• India has an agreement with Somalia where Somalian pirates have been extradited since 2017

Jurisdiction of designated court

• Designated courts- The central government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court, can notify Sessions Courts as the designated courts under this Act.
• Port or place of disembarkation within India of the person suspected or accused will be taken into account while deciding jurisdiction of the Court.

Offences covered

• The designated court will try offences committed by a person in the custody of the Indian Navy or Coast Guard, regardless of nationality.
• A citizen of India, a resident foreign national in India, or a stateless person.
• The court may try a person even if they are not physically present in the court.
• Exemptions- Warships and government owned ships employed for non-commercial purposes are not under jurisdiction of the court.

Offences over foreign ship

• The Court does not have jurisdiction over offences committed on a foreign ship unless an intervention is requested by
  • The country of origin of the ship
  • The ship owner
  • Any other person on the ship

Operation Sankalp

• Launch year- 2019
• Origin- It was started as there were explosions in oil tanker ships in the Gulf of Oman amid tensions between Iran and the US.
• Aim- To ensure safe passage of Indian Flag Vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.
• Need- Based on the threat assessment in the region, the Indian Navy is conducting maritime security operations in
  • Gulf of Aden and adjoining areas,
  • Arabian Sea and
  • Off the East Coast of Somalia
• IFC-IOR- Information Fusion Centre- Indian Ocean Region of the Indian Navy at Gurugram has played a transformative role as a principal hub for enabling information exchange in Indian Ocean Region.
• Significance- It has played a pivotal role as the ‘First Responder’ and ‘Preferred Security Partner’ in the Indian Ocean Region.
• Role- The naval ships, aircraft and Special Forces have demonstrated an unflinching resolve to ‘secure the seas’ and protect the maritime community from various non-traditional threats present in the region.