Parliament Wednesday approved a bill to enable the National Investigation Agency to probe terror attacks on Indians and Indian properties abroad, with Home Minister Amit Shah assuring the Rajya Sabha that the legislation will not be misused.
Shah defended the government for not filing an appeal against the acquittal of all four accused, including the radical right-wing's Swami Aseemanand, in the 2007 Samjhauta Express blastscase.
He said the four were charge-sheeted by the previous Congress government without proof.
Replying to the debate on the National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill, he attacked the Congress for questioning the efficiency of NIA, saying 184 terror accused have been convicted since the BJP government came to power in 2014.
Two days after Lok Sabha passed the bill, Rajya Sabha approved it unanimously.
The bill gives powers to the NIA to probe terror attacks targeting Indians and Indian interests abroad.
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Replying to Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi's citing a special NIA Court observing that National Investigation Agency (NIA) had miserably failed to prove charges against main accused Swami Aseemanand and three others in the Samjhauta train blast case, Shah said the charge sheet in the case was filed by the Congress government.
"Prosecution agency argues the case (in the court) based on evidence in the charge sheet... In Samjhauta blast case, the charge sheet was filed on August 9, 2012, when your (Congress) government was in power. A second challan was field on June 12, 2013, when UPA was in power. Challan was filed with no proof (against) the accused. The case was registered out of political vendetta," he alleged. "Punishment is based on the charge sheet."
The Home Minister said seven persons, who even the US identified as accused in the case, were arrested but to "attack terrorism with a particular religion, the culprits were let off and (the four) arrested."
"How could they (Assemanand and three others) be punished when there was no proof," he said. "What will judge do when there was no proof in the charge sheet?"
"Appeal is not decided by the prosecution agency or the government. It is decided by the law officer. If the law office does not find evidence (in the charge sheet), if the law officer gives an opinion that there is no case for appeal, what can the government do. Our government goes by the law officers opinion and not by political opinion."
Shah said since 2014, a total of 195 cases were registered by NIA, of which charge sheet was filed in 129. Of these 129, judgement has come in 44 cases. In 41 cases, culprits have been punished, he said adding in these cases "184 accused have been convicted."
"I want to assure the House that wherever abroad Indians are harmed by a terrorist, NIA is capable of taking action," he said. "I want to assure that the Modi government will not allow misuse of this law."
However, it was rejected by Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh by saying,"there is no motion for select committee."
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