Panel recommends death for pirates February 11, 2021 × The External Affairs Standing Committee of Parliament, headed by veteran BJP MP PP Chaudhary has recommended that the maximum punishment for a pirate should be death penalty. In its report on the Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill, the panel said though the Bill is drafted in accordance with UN provisions, if a pirate causes death, his or her maximum punishment should also be death. The panel observed that the Bill has been drafted in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) adopted by India in 1982 and ratified in 1995. “The committee further observed that countries such as the US, Australia, Italy and Sri Lanka do not provide for death penalty in spite of passing anti-maritime law similar to India. Under this, if a person while committing an act of Piracy causes or attempts to cause death, he will be punished by death,” it noted.