Big firms should be fined more for biodiversity law violation: Parliament panel

Lawmakers on Tuesday suggested that big corporations should be asked to pay higher fines for violating the Biological Diversity act as against a small scale industry unit, whose paying capacity is much less.

“The fine or penalty should be proportionate to the size of the company. A cottage industry or a small scale industry can not be equated with very big companies or corporates. If big companies/corporate indulge in activities, which are against the sustainable development of biodiversity or violate the provisions of this act, they should be imposed more fine/penalty,” a Joint Committee of the Parliament said in a report.

The panel with MPs from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha reviewed the Biological Diversity (Amendment) bill 2021 that seeks to simplify some of the procedures in the principle act, which came two decades ago.

In the amendment, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest proposed to increase the penalty up to Rs 50 lakh and on continued contravention up to Rs 1 crore, while dropping the criminal charges from the law.

“A higher fine will be a deterrent to the users of biological resources to take prior approvals before accessing such resources,” the ministry said.

While asking the ministry to make a distinction between big corporates and small companies, the Committee in its report said the penalty should not be too meagre, which would enable the violators to escape with a little fine.

“The fine provisions should be proportionate to the gains obtained by entities using biological resources. Moreover the penalty should also be proportionate to the size of the company,” said the panel headed by Sanjay Jaiswal.

When the ministry first brought the amendment bill, it attracted criticisms with critics claiming that the bill would facilitate AYUSH industry's greater access to medicinal plants and other natural resources.

For instance, in the draft bill, the “foreign controlled firms” were given an advantage as they were not required to register with the National Biodiversity Authority and seek prior approval to access the resources.

The proposed amendment would make it easier for the multinational firms to access India’s biological resources claiming themselves as “non-foreign companies” by registering in India, which would allow them to escape the need for any prior approval.

With many states and non-governmental organisations objecting to the clause, the panel asked the ministry to rectify.

“The Joint Committee has suggested important changes to prevent such an exemption. It clears ambiguity on foreign controlled companies. The change has also been approved by the Ministry of Law and Justice,” Debadityo Sinha, a Senior Resident Fellow at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy who studied the Biodiversity Act told DH.