Speaking at the Chief Ministers' conference on the issue here today, Bahuguna said legally speaking, there seems to be no problem with the provisions of NCTC.
He said the battle against terror so far has been fought on "an ad-hoc basis" and a law to deal with terrorism such as the UAPA is within the legislative competence of the Parliament.
"By conceptualising the NCTC, the Central Government has sought to raise a counter-terrorism architecture that would collect, evaluate and analyse intelligence and coordinate counter-terrorist operations," he said.
Bahuguna said NCTC's encrypted data base and communication facilities connected with 500 intelligence agencies, would "undoubtedly make sharing of intelligence and executing follow-up operations efficient, faster and better coordinated".
He said the powers conferred under section 43A must be read with the duty under section 43B to produce the person or article without unnecessary delay before the nearest police station, together with a written statement giving details of the case.
"The SHO of the Police Station would then take further action in accordance with the provisions of the CrPC. Moreover, the Standard Operating Procedure for the Operations Division of NCTC clearly spells out that in the normal course, the operation shall be carried out by the ATS or other police units of the State concerned," he said. More
