New Delhi: On Tuesday, July 25, amid the opposition’s loud protests on the violence in Manipur, the Lok Sabha passed the Biological Diversity (Amendment Bill), 2021, by a voice vote. The Bill brings changes to the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 by decriminalising biodiversity offences, among others.Among the many criticisms of the Bill was that it promotes ‘ease of doing business’ and would exempt users of codified traditional knowledge and Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) practitioners from sharing benefits with local communities.Lok Sabha passes Bill by voice voteUnion environment minister Bhupender Yadav discussed the Biological Diversity (Amendment Bill), 2021, in the Lok Sabha on July 25. Today, a “significant” Bill is being discussed in this house, Yadav said. He added:“‘Significant’ because the whole world is undergoing a triple crisis now. On one side is the crisis of climate change, on another is the crisis of desertification of land, and on the third, the crisis of the loss of biological resources.”“In our country, we want to promote ease of doing business…by [decriminalising offences] ease of doing business and ease of living is being brought forward by this Bill,” he said. The minister spoke right through loud protests – by the opposition pertaining to the ethnic conflict in Manipur – in the background. The Bill was passed by voice vote later and the House adjourned till 5 pm immediately after the passage of the Bill.The Biological Diversity Amendment BillThe Bill will amend the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, which provides for the conservation of biological diversity in India and their sustainable use, as well as fair and equitable sharing of the benefits that arise from using biodiversity. It was first introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 16, 2021, by Yadav. Experts have argued that the Bill encourages a conducive environment for investments – promotes “ease of doing business” – and simplifies the patent application process, and that it will further alienate India’s agriculture and environment ministries. There has also been concern that the Bill will exempt users of codified traditional knowledge and AYUSH practitioners from sharing benefits with local communities.The Bill, following criticisms, was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee chaired by Sanjay Jaiswal. The committee’s report was tabled in Parliament on August 2, 2022. Some experts have said that the committee has addressed several points raised by critics.Our major submission was reg. the ambiguous definition of the “foreign controlled company” which would have changed the implementation of the Act altogether. Glad that the report not just discusses this point but accepting our suggestion of S2(27) of the Companies Act. pic.twitter.com/R8t42n0Wvj— Debadityo Sinha (@debadityo) August 2, 2022However, the committee accepted several amendments – including ones that exempt users of codified traditional knowledge from sharing benefits with local communities, reported Hindustan Times. For instance, experts had raised concerns about the Bill decriminalising offences under the Act and making them punishable only with a penalty (between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50 lakh and continuing violations can attract an additional penalty of up to Rs 1 crore) and no imprisonment. The committee merely observed that the penalty structure should not be too meagre as it could enable violators to escape with a small fine. It recommended that the penalty should be proportionate to the gains obtained by entities and the size of the company.