In force · As amended up to 2026-08
44. Punishment for contravention in relation to disclosure of confidential information. — Whoever, in contravention of any provision of this Act, divulges any confidential information obtained by the National Authority from any declaration or return furnished or any statement made, information supplied to, or obtained by, an enforcement officer during the course of any inspection carried out under the provisions of this Act to any other person, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year but which may extend to term of life and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to one lakh rupees.
44. The Director-General shall be responsible to the Conference and the Executive Council for the appointment of the staff and the Organization and functioning of the Technical Secretariat.The paramount consideration in the employment of the staff and in the determination of the conditions of service shall be the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity. Only citizens of
States Parties shall serve as the Director-General, as inspectors or as other members of the professional and clerical staff. Due regard shall be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. Recruitment shall be guided by the principle that the staff shall be kept to a minimum necessary for the proper discharge of the responsibilities of the Technical Secretariat.
44. The particular storage facility to be inspected shall be chosen by the Technical Secretariat in such a way as to preclude the prediction of precisely when the facility is to be inspected. The guidelines for determining the frequency of systematic on-site inspections shall be elaborated by the Technical Secretariat, taking into account the recommendations to be considered and approved by the Conference pursuant to Article VIII, paragraph 21(i).
44. The purposes of the initial inspection shall be:
(a) To confirm that the production of chemical weapons has ceased and that the facility has been inactivated in accordance with this Convention;
(b) To permit the Technical Secretariat to familiarize itself with the measures that have been taken to cease production of chemical weapons at the facility;
(c) To permit the inspectors to install temporary seals;
(d) To permit the inspectors to confirm the inventory of buildings and specialized equipment;
(e) To obtain information necessary for planning inspection activities at the facility, including use of tamper-indicating seals and other agreed equipment, which shall be installed pursuant to the detailed facility agreement for the facility; and
(f) To conduct preliminary discussions regarding a detailed agreement on inspection procedures at the facility.
45. Inspectors shall employ, as appropriate, agreed seals, markers or other inventory control procedures to facilitate an accurate inventory of the declared items at each chemical weapons production facility.
46. Inspectors shall install such agreed devices as may be necessary to indicate if any resumption of production of chemical weapons occurs or if any declared item is removed. They shall take the necessary precaution not to hinder closure activities by the inspected State Party. Inspectors may return to maintain and verify the integrity of the devices.
44. In carrying out the challenge inspection in accordance with the inspection request, the inspection team shall use only those methods necessary to provide sufficient relevant facts to clarify the concern about possible non-compliance with the provisions of this Convention, and shall refrain from activities not relevant thereto. It shall collect and document such facts as are related to the possible non-compliance with this Convention by the inspected State Party, but shall neither seek nor document information which is clearly not related thereto, unless the inspected State Party expressly requests it to do so. Any material collected and subsequently found not to be relevant shall not be retained.
Source: India Code