The Anti-Apartheid (United Nations Convention) Act, 1981

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THE ANTI-APARTHEID (UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION) ACT, 1981 

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ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 

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SECTIONS 

1. Short title and extent. 

2. Application of the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of 

Apartheid. 

3. Punishment for international criminal responsibility. 

4. Offences by companies, organisations or institutions. 

5. Place of trial. 

6. Previous sanction of the Central Government for arrest or prosecution. 

7. Provisions as to Extradition Act. 

THE SCHEDULE. 

 

  



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THE ANTI-APARTHEID (UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION) ACT, 1981 

ACT NO. 48 OF 1981 

[18th December, 1981.] 

An Act to give effect to the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the 

Crime of Apartheid. 

WHEREAS an International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid 

was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on the Thirtieth day of November, 1973; 

AND WHEREAS India, having acceded to the said Convention, should make provisions for giving 

effect to it; 

BE it enacted by Parliament in the Thirty-second Year of the Republic of India as follows:— 

1. Short title and extent.—(1) This Act may be called The Anti-Apartheid (United Nations 

Convention) Act, 1981. 

(2) It extends to the whole of India. 

2. Application of the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the 

Crime of Apartheid.—(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other law, such of 

the provisions of the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of 

Apartheid as are setout in the Schedule shall have the force of law in India. 

(2) The Central Government may, from time to time, by notification in the Official Gazette, amend 

the Schedule in conformity with any amendments, duly made and adopted, of the provisions of the said 

Convention set out therein. 

(3) Every notification issued under sub-section (2) shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is issued, 

before each House of Parliament. 

3. Punishment for international criminal responsibility.—Every person to whom international 

criminal responsibility applies under article III of the said Convention, as set out in the Schedule, shall be 

punished with death, or imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, 

and shall also be liable to fine. 

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, the reference in clause (a) of article III of the said 

Convention to “article II” shall be construed as a reference to the provisions of article II of that 

Convention as set out in the Schedule. 

4. Offences by companies, organisations or institutions.—Where an offence under this Act has 

been committed by a company or an organisation or an institution, every person who, at the time the 

offence was committed, was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company, organisation or 

institution, as the case may be, for the conduct of its business or affairs, shall be deemed to be guilty of 

the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly: 

Provided that nothing contained in this section shall render any such person liable to any punishment 

provided in this Act if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he 

exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence. 

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, “company” means any body corporate and includes a 

firm or other association of individuals. 

5. Place of trial.—Any person committing an offence under section 3 may be tried for the offence in 

any place in which he may be found or in such other place as the Central Government may, by general or 

special order, published in the Official Gazette, direct in this behalf. 

6. Previous sanction of the Central Government for arrest or prosecution.—No person shall be 

arrested or prosecuted in respect of any offence under section 3 except with the previous sanction of the 

Central Government or such officer or authority as may be authorised by that Government by order in 

writing in this behalf. 



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7. Provisions as to Extradition Act.—For the purposes of the Extradition Act, 1962 (34 of 1962), 

the offence under section 3 shall not be considered to be an offence of a political character. 

  

THE SCHEDULE 

(See sections 2 and 3) 

PROVISIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON THE SUPPRESSION AND PUNISHMENT OF THE 

CRIME OF Apartheid  WHICH SHALL HAVE FORCE OF LAW 

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Article II 

For the purpose of the present Convention, the term “the crime of apartheid”, which shall include 

similar policies and practices of racial segregation and discrimination as practised in southern Africa, 

shall apply to the following inhuman acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining 

domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically 

oppressing them: 

(a) Denial to a member or members of a racial group or groups of the right to life and liberty of 

person: 

(i) By murder of members of a racial group or groups; 

(ii) By the infliction upon the members of a racial group or groups of serious bodily or mental 

harm, by the infringement of their freedom or dignity, or by subjecting them to torture or to cruel, 

inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; 

(iii) By arbitrary arrest and illegal imprisonment of the members of a racial group or groups; 

(b) Deliberate imposition on a racial group or groups of living conditions calculated to cause its 

or their physical destruction in whole or in part; 

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(e) Exploitation of the labour of the members of a racial group or groups, in particular by 

submitting them to forced labour; 

(f) Persecution of organisations and persons, by depriving them of fundamental rights and 

freedoms, because they oppose apartheid. 

Article III 

International criminal responsibility shall apply, irrespective of the motive involved, to individuals, 

members of organisations and institutions and representatives of the State, whether residing in the 

territory of the State in which the acts are perpetrated or in some other State, whenever they: 

(a) Commit, participate in, directly incite or conspire in the commission of the acts mentioned in 

article II of the present Convention; 

(b) Directly abet, encourage or co-operate in the commission of the crime of apartheid. 

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