THE TOKYO CONVENTION ACT, 1975 
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ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 
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CHAPTER I 

PRELIMINARY 

SECTIONS 

1.  Short title, extent and commencement. 

2.  Definitions. 

CHAPTER II 

DEFINITIONS 

CHAPTER III 

OFFENCES 

3.  Application of criminal law to aircraft. 
4.  Provisions as to Extradition Act. 
5.  Powers of commander of aircraft. 
6.  Jurisdiction. 
7.  Provisions as to evidence in connection with aircraft. 
8.  Provisions as to documentary evidence. 

CHAPTER IV 

MISCELLANEOUS 

9.  Power to apply the provisions of Act with modifications to certain aircraft. 
10.  Contracting parties to Convention. 
11.  Power to treat certain aircraft to be registered in Convention country. 

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THE TOKYO CONVENTION ACT, 1975 

ACT NO. 20 OF 1975 

 [8th May, 1975.] 

An Act to give effect to the Convention on offences and certain other acts committed on board 

aircraft. 

WHEREAS a Convention on offences and certain other acts committed on board aircraft was on the 

Fourteenth day of September, 1963, signed at Tokyo; 

AND  WHEREAS  it  is  expedient  that  India  should  accede  to  the  said  Convention  and  should  make 

provisions for giving effect thereto; 

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

CHAPTER I 

PRELIMINARY 

1.  Short  title,  extent  and  commencement.—(1)  This  Act  may  be  called  the  Tokyo  Convention       

Act, 1975. 

(2) It extends to the whole of India. 
(3)  It  shall  come  into  force  on  such  date1  as  the  Central  Government  may,  by  notification  in  the 

Official Gazette, appoint. 

CHAPTER II 

DEFINITIONS 

2. Definitions.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— 

(a) “aircraft” means any aircraft, whether or not registered in India, other than— 

(i) a military aircraft; or 

(ii) an aircraft belonging to, or exclusively employed in the service of, the State; 

(b) “appropriate authority” means— 

(i) in relation to India, any police officer not below the rank of an Assistant Sub-Inspector or 

any Immigration Officer, and 

(ii) in relation to any other country, being a Convention country, any officer having functions 
corresponding  to  the  functions  in  India  either  of  a  police  officer  not  below  the  rank  of  an 
Assistant Sub-Inspector or of an Immigration Officer; 

(c)  “commander”,  in  relation  to  an  aircraft,  means  the  member  of  the  crew  designated  as 
commander of the aircraft by the operator thereof, or failing such a person, the person who is for the 
time being the pilot in command of the aircraft; 

(d) “Convention country” means a country in which the Tokyo Convention is for the time being 

in force; 

(e) “Indian registered aircraft” means an aircraft— 

(A) which is for the time being registered in India; 

1. 1st January, 1976, vide notification No. S.O. 5426, dated 17th December, 1975, see Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II,  

sec. 3(ii). 

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(B) which is not for the time being registered in any country but in the case of which either 
the operator of the aircraft or each person entitled as owner to any legal or beneficial interest in it 
satisfies the following requirements, namely:— 

(i) that he is a person qualified to be owner of a legal or beneficial interest in an aircraft 

registered in India; and 

(ii) that he resides or has his principal place of business in India; or 

(C) Which, for the time being registered in any country other than India, is for the time being 
chartered  by  demise  to  a  person  who,  or  to  persons  each  of  whom,  satisfies  the  requirements 
specified in sub-clause (B) (i) and (ii); 

(f)  “military  aircraft”  means  an  aircraft  of  the  naval,  military  or  air  force  of  any  country  and 
includes every aircraft, commanded by a person in naval, military or air force service, detailed for the 
purpose; 

(g) “operator”, in relation to  an aircraft at any time, means the person who at that time has the 

management of the aircraft; 

(h)  “pilot in  command”,  in  relation  to an  aircraft,  means  a  person  who for the time  being  is  in 
charge of the piloting of the aircraft without being under the direction of any other pilot in the aircraft 
and responsible for the operation and safety of the aircraft during flight time; 

(i) “Tokyo Convention” means the Convention on offences and certain other acts committed on 

board aircraft signed at Tokyo on the Fourteenth day of September, 1963; 

(j) any reference to a country or to the territorial limits thereof shall be construed as including a 
reference to the territorial waters, if any, of that country, and any reference to an aircraft in flight shall 
include a reference to an aircraft during any period when it is on the surface of the sea or land but not 
within the territorial limits of any country. 

(2) For the purposes of this Act, the period during which an aircraft is in flight shall be deemed to 
include any period from the moment when power is applied for the purpose of the aircraft taking off on a 
flight  until  the  moment  when  the landing  run,  if  any,  at the  termination of that flight  ends; and for  the 
purpose of section 5 the aforesaid period shall also be deemed to include— 

(i) any further period from the moment when all external doors, if any, of the aircraft are closed 
following  embarkation  for  a  flight  until  the  moment  when  any  such  door  is  opened  for 
disembarkation, after that flight; 

(ii) if the aircraft makes a forced landing, any period thereafter until the time— 

(a)  in  a  case  where  the  forced  landing  takes  place  in  India,  when  the  appropriate  authority 

arrives at the place of such forced landing; and 

(b)  in  any  other  case,  when  the  appropriate  authority  takes  over  the  responsibility  for  the 

aircraft and for the persons and property on board the aircraft. 

CHAPTER III 

OFFENCES 

3.  Application  of  criminal  law  to  aircraft.—(1)  Any  act  or  omission  taking  place  on  board  an 
Indian registered aircraft while in flight  elsewhere than in or over  India which, if taking place in India, 
would constitute an offence under any law in force in India shall constitute that offence: 

Provided that this sub-section shall not apply to any act or omission which is expressly or impliedly 

authorised by or under any law of a country outside India, where the aircraft is in flight. 

(2)  No  proceedings  for an offence  under any  law  in force in  India,  committed  on  board an  aircraft 

while  in  flight  elsewhere  than  in  or  over  India  (other  than  an  offence  under  the  Aircraft                          
Act, 1934 [22 of 1934]) shall be instituted except by or with the consent of the Central Government. 

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(3)  Nothing  contained  in  sub-section  (2)  shall  prevent  the  arrest,  or  the  issue  of  a  warrant  for  the 
arrest,  of  any  person  in  respect  of  any  offence,  or  the  remanding  in  custody  or  on  bail  of  any  person 
charged with any offence. 

4.  Provisions  as  to  Extradition  Act.—For  the  purposes  of  application  of  the  Extradition               

Act,  1962  (34  of  1962),  to  crimes  committed  on  board  an  aircraft  in  flight,  any  aircraft  registered  in  a 
Convention  country  shall,  at  any  time  while  that  aircraft  is  in  flight,  be  deemed  to  be  within  the 
jurisdiction of that country, whether or not it is for the time being also within the jurisdiction of any other 
country. 

5. Powers of commander of aircraft.—(1) If the commander of an aircraft in flight, wherever the 

aircraft may be, has reasonable grounds to believe in respect of any person on board the aircraft— 

(a) that the person in question has done or is about to do any act on the aircraft while it is in flight 

which jeopardises or may jeopardise— 

(i) the safety of the aircraft or of persons or property on board the aircraft; or 

(ii) the good order and discipline on board the aircraft; or 

(b) that the person in question has done on the aircraft while in flight any act which in the opinion 
of  the  commander  is  an  offence  under  any  law  in  force  in  the  country  in  which  the  aircraft  is 
registered, not being a law of a political nature or based on racial or religious discrimination, 

then,  subject  to  the  provisions  of  sub-section  (4),  the  commander  may  take  with  respect  to  that  person 
such reasonable measures, including restraint of his person, as may be necessary— 

(i) to protect the safety of the aircraft or of persons or property on board the aircraft; or 

(ii) to maintain good order and discipline on board the aircraft; or 

(iii) to  enable  the  commander  to  disembark  or  deliver  that  person  in  accordance  with  the 

provisions of sub-section (5). 

(2) The aircraft commander may require the assistance of other crew members and may request, but 
not require, the assistance of passengers or authorise other crew members and passengers, to restrain any 
person whom he is entitled to restrain. 

(3)  Any  crew  member  or  passenger  may  also  take  reasonable  preventive  measures  without  any 
authorisation  under  sub-section  (2)  when  he  has  reasonable  grounds  to  believe  that  such  action  is 
immediately necessary to protect the safety of the aircraft, or of persons or property therein. 

(4)  Any  restraint  imposed  on  any  person  on  board  an  aircraft  under  the  powers  conferred  by  the 
foregoing provisions of this section shall not be continued after the time when the aircraft first thereafter 
ceases to be in flight unless before or as soon as is reasonably practicable after that time, the commander 
of the aircraft causes notification of the fact that a person on board the aircraft is under restraint and of the 
reasons therefor to be sent to the appropriate authority of the country in which the aircraft so ceases to be 
in flight, but subject to such notification may be continued after that time— 

(a) for  any  period  (including  the  period  of  any  further  flight)  between  that  time  and  the  first 
occasion  thereafter  on  which  the  commander  is  able  with  any  requisite  consent  of  the  appropriate 
authorities  to  disembark  or  deliver  the  person  under  restraint  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of 
sub-section (5); or 

(b)  if  the  person  under  restraint  agrees  to  continue  his  journey  under  restraint  on  board  that 

aircraft. 

(5) The commander of an aircraft,— 

(a) if, in the case of any person on board the aircraft, he has reasonable grounds— 

(i) to believe as mentioned in clause (a) of sub-section (1); and 

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(ii) to believe that it is necessary so to do in order to protect the safety of the aircraft or of 
persons or property on board the aircraft or to maintain good order and discipline on board the 
aircraft, 

may disembark that person in any country in which that aircraft may be; and 

(b)  if,  in  the  case  of  any  person  on  board  the  aircraft,  he  has  reasonable  grounds  to  believe  as 

mentioned in clause (b) of sub-section (1), may deliver that person to the appropriate authority. 

(6) The commander of an aircraft— 

(a) if  he  disembarks  any  person  in  pursuance  of  clause (a) of  sub-section  (5),  in  the  case  of  an 
Indian registered aircraft, in any country or, in the case of any other aircraft, in India, shall report the 
fact of, and the reasons for, that disembarkation to— 

(i) the appropriate authority in the country of disembarkation; and 

(ii) the appropriate diplomatic or consular officer of the country of nationality of that person; 

(b) if he intends to deliver any person in pursuance of clause (b) of sub-section (5) in India, or in 
the  case  of  an  Indian  registered  aircraft,  in  any  other  country  which  is  a  Convention  country,  shall 
before or as soon as reasonably practicable after landing give notification of his intention and of the 
reasons therefor— 

(i) to the appropriate authority; and 

(ii) in  either  case,  to  the  appropriate  diplomatic  or  consular  officer  of  the  country  of 

nationality of that person, 

and any commander of an aircraft who without reasonable cause fails to comply with the requirements of 
this sub-section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees. 

6.  Jurisdiction.—(1) For  the  avoidance  of  doubt,  it  is  hereby  declared  that  for  the  purpose  of  any 
proceedings before a court in India, any court having jurisdiction in respect of piracy committed on the 
high seas shall have jurisdiction in respect of offences and other acts committed on board an aircraft as 
described in this Act wherever that offence or act is committed. 

(2) For the purposes of conferring jurisdiction, an offence under any law in force in India, committed 
on  board  an  aircraft  in  flight  shall  be  deemed  to  have  been  committed  in  any  place in  India  where  the 
offender may for the time being be. 

7. Provisions as to evidence in connection with aircraft.—(1) Where in any proceedings before a 
court in India for an offence or other act committed on board an aircraft the testimony of any person is 
required  and  the  court  is  satisfied  that  the  person  in  question  cannot  be  found  in  India,  there  shall  be 
admissible in evidence before that court any deposition relating to the subject matter of those proceedings 
previously made on oath by that person outside India which was so made— 

(a) in the presence of the person charged with the offence; and 

(b) before a judge or a magistrate of a country such as is mentioned in the First Schedule to the 

Citizenship Act, 1955 (57 of 1955) or before a consular officer of the Central Government. 

(2) Any such deposition shall be authenticated by the signature of the judge, magistrate or consular 
officer before whom it was made and he shall certify that the person charged with the offence was present 
at the taking of the deposition. 

(3) It  shall  not  be  necessary  in  any  proceedings  to  prove  the  signature  or  official  character  of  the 
person  appearing  so  to  have  authenticated  any  such  deposition  or  to  have  given  such  a  certificate,  and 
such a certificate shall, unless the contrary is proved, be sufficient evidence in any proceedings that the 
person charged with the offence was present at the making of the deposition. 

(4) If a complaint is made to such a consular officer as aforesaid that any offence has been committed 
on an Indian registered aircraft while in flight elsewhere than in or over India, that officer may enquire 
into the case upon oath. 

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(5) In this section— 

(a)  the  expression  “deposition”  includes  an  affidavit,  affirmation  or  statement  made  upon        

oath; and 

(b) the expression “oath” includes an affirmation or declaration in the case of persons allowed by 

law to affirm or declare instead of swearing, 

and noting contained in this section shall prejudice the admission as evidence of any deposition which is 
admissible in evidence apart from this section. 

8.  Provisions  as  to  documentary  evidence.—(1)  In  any  legal  proceedings  under  this  Act,  a 
document  published  by  the  Ministry  of  the  Central  Government  dealing  with  Civil  Aviation  and 
purporting to be the publication known as “Aeronautical Information Publication” or a publication of the 
series  known  as  “Notam”  and  “Aeronautical  Information  Circular”  shall  be  evidence  of  the  matters 
appearing from that document. 

(2) Any message or signal transmitted to or received from an aircraft which relates to the position of 

the aircraft will be treated as evidence of certain records and shall apply to any legal proceedings. 

CHAPTER IV 

MISCELLANEOUS 

9.  Power  to  apply  the  provisions  of  Act  with  modifications  to  certain  aircraft.—The  Central 
Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that all or any of the provisions of this Act 
shall apply to an aircraft referred to in sub-clause (B) of clause (e) of sub-section (1) of section 2, subject 
to such modifications as may be specified in the notification. 

10.  Contracting  parties  to  Convention.—The  Central  Government  may,  by  notification  in  the 
Official Gazette, certify as to who are the contracting parties to the Tokyo Convention and to what extent 
they  have  availed  themselves  of  the  provisions  of  the  Convention,  and  any  such  notification  by  the 
Central Government shall be conclusive evidence of the matters certified therein. 

11.  Power  to  treat  certain  aircraft  to  be  registered  in  Convention  country.—If  the  Central 
Government is satisfied that the requirements of Article 18 of the Tokyo Convention have been satisfied 
in relation to any aircraft, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that such aircraft shall, for 
the purposes of this Act, be treated as registered in such Convention country as may be specified in the 
notification. 

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