Opposition in LS protests UAPA Bill
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New Delhi: Amid protests, the government on Monday introduced the National Investigation Agency (Amendment), Bill 2019 and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019, in Lok Sabha.
Introducing the Bill on behalf of Home Minister Amit Shah, Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy, asked why India could not designate terrorists as such, where the United Nations could do so with Jamaat-ud_Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed.
The Bill seeks to give more teeth to the agency by giving it powers to probe terror attacks targeting Indians and Indian interests abroad, say reports.
Members from Opposition bench, especially Shashi Tharoor and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) member P.K. Kunhalikutty, came out heavily on it.
Tharoor pointed out that courts got huge backlogs to deal with and with the amendment to the NIA Act, the government was adding more cases.
He also dubbed The Bill, “not based on logic”, but “piecemeal” legislation that did not insulate the NIA from political interference.
In his speech, Kunhalikutty sought the government, as it is widening the powers of investigating agencies, to consider set of measures or provisions to check the misuse of powers.
The UAPA Bill that seeks to allow an individual suspected to have terror links to be designated as a terrorist was termed draconian by the Opposition, reports The Hindu.
N K Premchandran (RSP) said that fundamental rights of an individual could not be foregone in the name of tackling terror.
The NIA was set up in 2009 following Mumbai terror attacks that claimed 166 lives. However, in 2002 there came into existence legislation POTA, which was repealed in 2004 following complaints of misuse.