India to amend law to punish hijackers with death sentence

New Delhi, March 19 (IANS) India Friday decided to amend its anti-hijacking legislation, including death sentence as punishment for perpetrators and a mandate to the government to order a hostile plane to be shot down if it is intended to be used as a missile.

The decision, which also calls for a complete no-negotiations policy with hijackers, was taken during a meeting of the federal cabinet, presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, based on the recommendations of the ministry of civil aviation ministry.

"As there is talk of abolishing death sentence worldwide, the government constituted a group of ministers to discuss this issue," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told a news conference here after the cabinet meeting.

"The proposal has been approved by the cabinet," she said, referring to the suggestions by the ministerial group headed by Home Minister P. Chidambaram, which was subsequently presented before the cabinet by the aviation ministry.

The group included Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.

The new measures seek to deter hijackers and will come into force after an amendment in India's Anti-Hijacking Act, 1982. The government will place the proposed amendment bill before parliament when it meets after a recess next month, Soni said.

The amended law will allow the Indian Air Force, when ordered by a competent authority,  to intercept a hijacked aircraft and force it to land. If a hostile plane can also be shot on evidence that it could be used as a missile to hit a vital installation.

The amendment also calls for immobilising a hijacked aircraft on Indian soil if it has not taken off already. This apart a new clause will also be  inserted for punishment to those who launch a conspiracy to hijack an aircraft.

The cabinet decision follows a prolonged debate sparked off by the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines aircraft to Kandahar in Afghanistan, forcing the Indian government to free three jailed militants.

The no-negotiations policy aims at preventing situations like that in 1999 when three terrorists Omar Sheikh, Maulana Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar were swapped in exchange for the release of the hostages. One Indian, 25-year-old Rupen Katyal was killed.

The hijack, according to officials, was commandeered by five Pakistani militants on the eve of New Year, who forced to land in three different airports at Amritsar, Lahore, and Dubai before spending a week on the tarmac in Kandahar with 186 hostages on board.