NIA gets right to pronounce anyone terrorist: Anti-terror bill passed in Lok Sabha
New Delhi : Amid severe concern by the opposition, the anti-terror bill has been passed in Lok Sabha. In the bill, NIA has been given right to pronounce anyone terrorist and seize his/her property and assets until investigations into the terror case.
In the Lok Sabha, 287 MPs voted in favour of the bill while eight members dissented, with Congress Members of Parliament (MPs) walking out of the Lok Sabha, demanding that the bill must be sent to a Standing Committee for review.
The UAPA Bill was introduced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the Lok Sabha on July 8, just two weeks after the Union cabinet had cleared it.
The bill will now be tabled in the Rajya Sabha where it will await the passage.
Speaking in the Lower House, Union home minister Amit Shah said, “The law is just to finish terrorism in the country and not to misuse it. I assure the house that it will not be misused. The toughest laws are needed to root out terror from its roots. I have merely brought in amendments."
While Congress party Member of Parliament (MP) Karti Chidambaram raised questions about the law being eventually “misused" by governments “in future," he also added that such a law would not be able to prevent any terrorist attacks in the country.
“This is the trend of every government – every government wants to centralize power. But what if there is not an enlightened government? Is this government assuring us that the law will not be misused in future? Are you putting processes in place under which misuse will not happen? Had it (the law) been there earlier, would you have been able to prevent Pulwama or Pathankot? Can they prevent terrorist attacks because there are tougher laws?" Karti Chidambaram said in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
