NEW DELHI, JUN 24 (PTI): The amendments to the provisions of offences and penalties under the Indian Antarctic Act, 2022, through the recently enacted Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2026, will come into effect from September 30, the Ministry of Earth Sciences said on Wednesday.
The Act provides a policy and regulatory framework for the country’s activists in Antarctica through a well-established legal mechanism.
One of the changes, for example, pertains to Section 41 of the Indian Antarctic Act, 2022, which deals with “penalty for contravention of certain provisions of the Act by person.”
Another amendment has been made to Section 44, which deals with penalties for offences not mentioned in the Act.
Earlier, it said, “Any person who contravenes the provisions of this Act or fails to comply with any provision thereof which it was his duty to comply with, and in respect of which no penalty is specifically provided in this Act, shall be punishable with a fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees.”
Now, the sections entail a whole process for adjudication of such penalties, which involves the Centre appointing “an officer not below the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government of India as an adjudicating officer for holding an inquiry and imposing penalties”.
The Ministry of Earth Sciences made the announcement of these amendments coming into effect through a notification, which was published on Wednesday.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2026 (8 of 2026), the Central Government hereby appoints the 30th September, 2026 as the date on which the provisions of the said Act, in so far as it relates to serial number 76 and the entries relating thereto in the Schedule to the said Act, relating to the Indian Antarctic Act, 2022 (13 of 2022), shall come into force,” said the notification.
Friday, November 13, 2026