Dec
19
Supreme Court judgment on Prevention of Terrorism Act
December 19, 2003 | Comments Off on Supreme Court judgment on Prevention of Terrorism Act
On December 18, 2003, the Supreme Court of India held that state governments cannot withdraw cases brought against accused under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). The Central government must consent to the withdrawal of the case.
The Hindu has written an editorial on this judgment titled “POTA reinterpreted:”
While upholding the constitutional validity of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), the Supreme Court has sanitised what is easily the most contentious and loosely worded Section in this controversial piece of legislation… It has been clear for some time now that Section 21 of POTA, which deals with offences relating to the support given to terrorist organisations, is cast in a manner that virtually invites gross abuse. On a plain reading, the Section makes no distinction between mere expressions of sympathy or verbal support for terrorist organisations and acting with the intent of inviting support for them or their activities….
POTA is the newest addition in a long line of draconian law in India. Check out Amnesty International’s briefing on the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance, before it became an Act. Amnesty outlines its concerns, ranging from the vague definitions of membership and support for “terrorist organizations,” the lack of pre-trial safeguards, and insufficient guarantees of rights at trial, among other issues.
The Indian government has also used draconian legislation in Punjab:
The Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) of 1987 established in camera courts and authorized detention of persons in a “disturbed area” based on mere suspicion. Under Section 21, detainees were presumed guilty until proven innocent; Section 20(8) prohibited bail even if the detainee had not been charged after ninety days. Between 1985 and 1995, the police registered 17,529 TADA cases in Punjab; only a few were eventually convicted.
The Armed Forces (Punjab and Chandigarh) Special Powers Act of 1983 empowered security forces to search premises and arrest people without warrant. Section 4 gave them the power to shoot to kill a suspected terrorist, with prosecutorial immunity granted in Section 7. Amnesty International described this act as emboldening security forces with a “license to torture and kill with impunity.”
The National Security Act of 1980, amended in 1984 and 1987, authorized detention of suspected terrorists without trial for two years in Punjab. In 1988, the Parliament dissolved the Punjab State Assembly and passed the Fifty-ninth Amendment to the Indian Constitution, authorizing the extension of President’s rule beyond one year, and suspending due process guarantees for rights relating to life and liberty and to freedom of speech and association in Punjab. This amendment also suspended the writ of habeas corpus. Although the amendment was repealed in 1989, the Parliament again extended President’s rule in Punjab in March 1990.
(From: http://www.punjabjustice.org/background.htm)
For more information on the draconian legislation used in Punjab, including an extensive analysis of TADA, read “The Legislative Apparatus of Counterinsurgency” (starting page 83) from Reduced to Ashes.
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