Title : THE UAPA ACT, 1967

Date : Dec 02, 2021

Description :

GS III

 

Topic à Internal Security of India

 

• About UAPA:

 

• The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is a federal law that prohibits anyone from engaging in illegal activities.
• The law, which was passed in 1967, attempts to effectively ban illicit actions associations in India.
• The Act gives the central government ultimate jurisdiction, and if the Centre judges an activity to be illegal, it can declare it such through an Official Gazette.
• The death penalty and life imprisonment are the most severe penalties.
• Both Indian and international nationals can be charged under the UAPA.
• It will apply to all offenders in the same way, even if the offence is committed in a foreign country other than India.
• The investigative agency can file a charge sheet under the UAPA within 180 days of the arrests, and the time limit can be extended further by notifying the court.

 

• According to the 2019 amendments:

 

• When the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is investigating a case, the Act allows the Director General to approve the seizure or attachment of property.
• The Act authorises NIA officials with the level of Inspector or higher to conduct terrorism investigations in addition to those conducted by the state's DSP, ACP, or higher rank officer.
• It also allowed for the designation of an individual as a terrorist.

 

• The UAPA's boundaries are defined by the Delhi High Court:

 

• The Delhi High Court struck down some fundamental principles on the imposition of Sections 15, 17 & 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) in June 2021, providing a judgement outlining the limits of the otherwise "vague" Section 15 of the Act.

 

• UAPA Sections 15, 17, and 18:

 

• The offence of 'terrorist act' is engrafted in Section 15.
• S. 17 establishes the penalty for soliciting funds to perpetrate a terrorist attack.
• The offence of 'penalty for conspiracy, etc. to conduct a terrorist act or any act preparatory to commit a terrorist act' is engrafted in Section 18.

 

• The court made the following key observations:

 

• The term "terrorist act" should not be used lightly in order to minimise the seriousness of the situation.
• Terrorist action is defined as behaviour that goes beyond the ability of law enforcement agencies to deal with under ordinary criminal law (Supreme Court judgement in Hitendra Vishnu Thakur case).

 

• Source à The Hindu à 02/12/21 à Page Number 9

Tags : anti terrorism, internal security