1. Short title, extent, application and commencement.—(1) This Act may be called the
Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act, 1982.
(2) It extends to the whole of India and, save as otherwise provided in this Act, it applies also to any
offence under section 3 committed outside India by any person.
(3) It shall come into force on such date1
as the Central Government may, by notification in the
Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Definitions.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) “aircraft” means any aircraft, whether or not registered in India, other than a military
aircraft or an aircraft used in customs or police service;
(b) “aircraft registered in India” means an aircraft which is for the time being registered in
India;
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[(bb) “airport” means an aerodrome as defined in clause (2) of section 2 of the Aircraft Act,
1934 (22 of 1934);]
(c) “Convention country” means a country in which the Montreal Convention is for the time
being in force;
(d) “military aircraft” means an aircraft of the naval, military, air force or any other armed
forces of any country and includes every aircraft commanded for the time being by a person in
such force detailed for the purpose;
(e) “Montreal Convention” means the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts
against the Safety of Civil Aviation signed at Montreal on the 23rd day of September, 1971.
(2) For the purposes of this Act,—
(a) an aircraft shall be deemed to be in flight at any time from the moment when all its external
doors are closed following embarkation until the moment when any such door is opened for
disembarkation, and in the case of a forced landing, the flight shall be deemed to continue until the
1. 15th November 1982, vide notification No. S.O. 799(E), dated 12th November 1982, see Gazette of India, Extraordinary,
Part II, sec. 3(ii).
2. Ins. by Act 40 of 1994, s. 2 (w.e.f. 19-9-1996).
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competent authorities of the country in which such forced landing takes place take over the
responsibility for the aircraft and for persons and property on board;
(b) an aircraft shall be deemed to be in service from the beginning of the pre-flight preparation of
the aircraft by the ground staff or by the crew for a specific flight until twenty-four hours after any
landing and the period of such service shall include the entire period during which the aircraft is in
flight.