After getting the Cabinet approval on Monday, Home Minister P Chidambaram didn’t waste any time and tabled the much-awaited Bill to create the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Lok Sabha today.
The home ministry also mooted amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act today to give it more teeth to fight terrorism.
The Congress-led UPA is trying to get the two Bills passed in the next couple of days without referring them to Parliamentary Standing Committees. However, the Left is planning to move amendments to these Bills.
The NIA will have sweeping powers to arrest, seize or take any other action required for an investigation of crimes specified under this Act. Notwithstanding law and order being a state subject, an NIA officer will be able to “exercise throughout India any of the powers of the officer-in-charge of a police station in the area in which he is present for the time being”, the Bill says. The agency will be headed by a director general appointed by the central government.
If the Centre finds any case fit for probe by the NIA, the state government will be bound to hand over the case or any pending investigation to the agency. The NIA Bill also provides for setting up of special courts for speedy trial of terror-related offences, with hearings to be held on day-to-day basis.
Apart from the whole of India, the NIA will cover Indian citizens residing abroad (like Dawood Ibrahim and Masood Azhar), persons in service of the government wherever they may be and persons on ships or aircraft (hijackers) registered in India. The NIA Bill also says that to protect witnesses, the hearings may be held ‘in-camera’ if the special court so desires.
The amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act have the provision to increase the detention period to 180 days instead of the current 90 days. Foreign nationals accused of terrorism in India will not get bail, while an Indian national accused in a terror case will not be released on bail unless the public prosecutor gets an opportunity to appeal against such a release.
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To choke terror-funding, the Bill also provides for freezing, seizing and attaching funds and other financial assets or economic resources held by individuals or entities suspected to be engaged in terrorism. In most of the offences like raising funds or recruiting people for terrorism, the minimum punishment would be for five years and can be extended to a life term.
The Bill also says that anyone who demands explosives, firearms, lethal weapons, poisonous chemicals, biological or radiological weapons with the intention of aiding, abetting or committing terror acts “shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years”. Every offence punishable under this Act shall be deemed to be congnizable offence.