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Section3
The Biological Diversity Act, 2002

Certain persons not to undertake Biodiversity related activities without approval of National Biodiversity Authority

In force From 01 Oct 2003 Act 18 of 2003 As on 15 Oct 2026

Act 18 of 2003 Ministry Environment, Forest and Climate Change Enacted 05 Feb 2003 In force 01 Oct 2003 Cited by 9 provisions Instruments 11

Section 3 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 deals with certain persons not to undertake Biodiversity related activities without approval of National Biodiversity Authority. No person referred to in sub-section (2) shall, without previous approval of the National Biodiversity Authority, obtain any biological resource occurring in India or knowledge associated thereto for research or for commercial utilisation or for bio-survey and bio-utilisation. The Act came into force on 01 Oct 2003.

(1) No person referred to in sub-section (2) shall, without previous approval of the National Biodiversity Authority, obtain any biological resource occurring in India or knowledge associated thereto for research or for commercial utilisation or for bio-survey and bio-utilisation.

(2) The persons who shall be required to take the approval of the National Biodiversity Authority under sub-section (1) are the following, namely:--

(a) a person who is not a citizen of India;

(b) a citizen of India, who is a non-resident as defined in clause (30) of section 2 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961);

(c) a body corporate, association or organisation--

(i) not incorporated or registered in India; or

(ii) incorporated or registered in India under any law for the time being in force which has any non-Indian participation in its share capital or management.

Section 3, The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (Act 18 of 2003).

Cross-references

Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.

This section refers to

  1. Income-tax Act s. 2 Definitions

Referred to by 9

  1. s. 5 Certain provisions not to apply to certain collaborative research projects
  2. s. 6 Application for intellectual property rights not to be made without approval of National Biodiversity Authority
  3. s. 7 Prior intimation to State Biodiversity Board for accessing biological resource for certain purposes
  4. s. 18 Functions and powers of National Biodiversity Authority
  5. s. 19 Approval by National Biodiversity Authority for undertaking certain activities
  6. s. 20 Transfer of results of research
  7. s. 24 Power of State Biodiversity Board to restrict certain activities violating the objectives of conservation, etc
  8. s. 55 Penalties
  9. s. 55A Adjudication of penalties

Related judgements & precedents

These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.

  1. Divya Pharmacy v. Union of India

    High Court 21 Dec 2018 Persuasive (High Court) Reportable W.P.(M/S) No. 3437 of 2016 (Uttarakhand)

    Court's Decision & Legal Precedent

    Final Order order-7.pdf 2018-12-21 DATE VERIFIED. Sudhanshu Dhulia J. WP(M/S) 3437/2016. Isolate: Biological Diversity Act s.21 — fair and equitable benefit sharing is determined by the NBA under s.21, but Indian entities accessing biological resources commercially are also liable to FEBS; s.2(g)’s reference to NBA s.21 is not a foreign-entity-only limit when read with s.7/s.23/s.24 and the Nagoya/Rio scheme. Existing CNR already mapped to ss.3 and 7 — add s.21 only. Do not re-pad 3/7.

    On this section: s.3 prior approval of the NBA applies only to persons with a foreign element; it does not exhaust FEBS or immunise Indian s.7 entities from benefit-sharing (Divya Pharmacy).

    Read the full order on eCourts India

The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.

Judgments citing this section

These may be obiter dicta or a precedent, for you to study. These are the judgments where this section is quoted.

  1. High Court 21 Dec 2018 UKHC010004272016

    … Under the Act, certain class of persons, cannot undertake an activity, related to biodiversity in India, in any manner, without a "prior approval" of the National Biodiversity Authority (from hereinafter referred to as NBA). The persons who require prior approval from NBA are the persons defined in Section 3 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (from hereinafter referred to as the 'Act'). Section 3 of the Act reads as under: > "3. Certain persons not to undertake Biodiversity related activities without approval of National Biodiversity Authority.— (1) No person referred to in subsection (2) shall, without …

    Read this order on eCourtsIndia

Made under this section, and citing it

11 instruments name this provision in its title or its text without being made under it.

All subordinate legislation

Questions about Section 3

What have the courts held on Section 3 of the Biological Diversity Act?

Divya Pharmacy v. Union of India (21 Dec 2018) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: s.3 prior approval of the NBA applies only to persons with a foreign element; it does not exhaust FEBS or immunise Indian s.7 entities from benefit-sharing (Divya Pharmacy).

How do I find court cases under Section 3 of the Biological Diversity Act?

In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Biological Diversity Act 3, section 3 Biological Diversity Act, section 3 of the Biological Diversity Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 1 reported judgment on this section is set out on this page, beginning with Divya Pharmacy v. Union of India (21 Dec 2018).

What should I read with Section 3 of the Biological Diversity Act, and has it changed?

Its own text turns on Income-tax Act 2 (Definitions), so none of them can safely be read on its own. 9 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. 11 instruments name it without being made under it, most recently Exemption of Crops listed in the Annex I of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) from seeking approval of NBA under Section 3 and 4 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (2014), then Section 3-7, 18-47, 49-53, 55-58, 60 and 61 of BD Act come in to force. (2004).

When did Section 3 of the Biological Diversity Act come into force?

Section 3 of the Biological Diversity Act, cited as Biological Diversity Act 3, came into force on 01 Oct 2003, having been enacted on 05 Feb 2003. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.

Other sections of this Act

Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 15 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.