The Unlawfull Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill 2019

Table of Contents

NOTES

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Amit Shah, on July 8, 2019.
The Bill amends the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The Act provides special procedures to deal with terrorist activities, among other things.

Under the Act, the central government may designate an organisation as a terrorist organisation if it: (i) commits or participates in acts of terrorism, (ii) prepares for terrorism, (iii) promotes terrorism, or (iv) is otherwise involved in terrorism.
The Bill additionally empowers the government to designate individuals as terrorists on the same grounds.

Yasin Bhatkal would’ve been arrested sooner if he was a designated terrorist, says Amit Shah

Mohammed Ahmed Siddibappa, named Yasin Bhatkal by Indian investigative agencies, was the founder leader of the proscribed terrorist organisation Indian Mujahideen (IM). He has been sentenced to death by a NIA court in Hyderabad on 19 December 2016.
Home minister Amit Shah said the provision in UAPA (amendment) bill to designate a person suspected to have terror links as terrorist is necessary to root out terror. “There’s a need for a provision to declare an individual as a terrorist.
“ The United Nations has a procedure for it, the United States has it, Pakistan has it, China has it, Israel has it, European Union has it; everyone has done it,” Shah said.

Under the Act, an investigating officer is required to obtain the prior approval of the Director General of Police to seize properties that may be connected with terrorism. The Bill adds that if the investigation is conducted by an officer of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the approval of the Director General of NIA would be required for seizure of such property.

Under the Act, investigation of cases may be conducted by officers of the rank of Deputy Superintendent or Assistant Commissioner of Police or above.
The Bill additionally empowers the officers of the NIA, of the rank of Inspector or above, to investigate cases.

The Act defines terrorist acts to include acts committed within the scope of any of the treaties listed in a schedule to the Act. The Schedule lists nine treaties, including the Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings (1997), and the Convention against Taking of Hostages (1979). The Bill adds another treaty to the list. This is the International Convention for Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (2005).

The opposition, criticising the Bill, called it “draconian”. Congress leader Manish Tewari, speaking on the Bill, said, “I want to ask, on what basis is this being done? How many lone-wolf attacks have happened in India? Which terror attack did not have an organisation behind it? This is going to be misused majorly… Please don’t make India a police state”.

The opposition opposes the Bill, saying false propaganda is being spread in this country that the law was the solution to all the problems. Manish Tewari, participating in the debate in the Lok Sabha, said that tough laws were “often misused than used”. He also added that how during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee regime the demand for diluting the POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) was raised by the NDA allies. In an attempt to drive his point home, Tewari pointed out that of the 1,031 people arrested in POTA’s 4,349 cases, only 13 were convicted.

The Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA) was an Act passed by the Parliament of India in 2002, with the objective of strengthening anti-terrorism operations. The Act was enacted due to several terrorist attacks that were being carried out in India and especially in response to the attack on the Parliament. The Act was repealed in 2004 by the United Progressive Alliance coalition.