Author: Pioneer News Service
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: October 26, 2001
The Union Government on Thursday
termed the new anti-terrorism Ordinance, banning 23 terrorist outfits,
as the first "comprehensive legal salvo against the menace of terrorism,
but having more than adequate in-built safeguards against its possible
misuse" by law enforcing authorities.
Terming the promulgation of the
Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance, 2001, by President K R Narayanan last
night as a "legal salvo against terrorism and terrorist organisations",
Union Home Secretary Kamal Pande said that unlike the Terrorist And Disruptive
Activities (Prevention) Act, which lapsed in 1995, the Ordinance contained
"built-in safeguards to make it more humane for the innocent".
"Countries like UK and USA, which
have faced much less onslaught of terrorism than India, have anti-terrorism
laws on their Statute Books," said Mr Pandey adding that the September
11 terrorist attacks in the United States had emphasised the urgency to
undertake immediate special measures.
Mr Pande told reporters that the
Ordinance has most comprehensive definition of Terrorist Acts as "acts
done by using weapons and explosive substances or other methods in a manner
as to cause or likely to cause death or injuries to any person or persons
or loss or damage to property or disruption of essential supplies and services
with intent to threaten the unity and integrity of india or to strike terror
in any section of the people".
The maximum punishment under the
Ordinance for committing terrorist acts is death while the minimum is five
years imprisonment.
The terrorist acts also imply acts
of fund raising by people/organisations for the purpose of terrorism. The
Ordinance has the provision for seizure of properties and assets of terrorist
outfits and their members.
The Home Secretary explained that
the Ordinance, however, has a string of in-built checks and balances to
safeguard innocent people against the possible misuse of the law and against
them.
One of the safeguards emanates from
the fact that terrorists acts have been precisely defined and the expression
"or to alienate any section of the people or to adversely affect the harmony
amongst different sections of the people", which was part of the definition
of terrorist acts under TADA has not been included in the new anti-terrorism
Ordinance.
Yet another safeguard against the
misuse of the Ordinance has been provided for in form of a stringent bail
provision for the first year of detention to be followed by a much more
relaxed provision for bail as per the Ordinary Cr P C provisions.
The section 32 of the Ordinance
provides for admissibility of confessions made to a police officer under
certain conditions. But unlike TADA, the confession of an accused will
not be admissible against a co-accused, as was the case under TADA. Further
such confessions have to be made before a police officer not lower in rank
than a Superintendent of Police and has to be further recorded with a Chief
Judicial Magistrate.
Despite drastic provisions of the
new anti-terrorism Ordinance, the new law would keep the police officials
on tenterhooks as any move by them against a person to harass him would
make them liable for jail terms as well as damages.
"Any police officer who exercises
powers corruptly or maliciously, knowing that there are no reasonable grounds
for proceeding under this Ordinance, shall be punishable with imprisonment
which may extend to two years, or with fine or with both," section 57 of
the Ordinance said.
In a further check on the police,
the section provided that if it was proved that a police official had corruptly
proceeded against a person, he would be liable to pay damages to the victim
as determined by the special court.
"If the special court is of the
opinion that any person has been corruptly or maliciously proceeded against
under this Ordinance, the court may award such compensation as it deems
fit to the person, so proceeded against and it shall be paid by the officer,
person, authority or Government, as may be specified in the order," section
57(2) said.The Ordinance also specifies that offenses under the new law
would be investigated only by Deputy Superintendent of Police in all areas
except in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Ahmedabad where the same should
be probed by police officials not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner
of Police.