Govt nod to new federal investigation agency

New Delhi: It was the 60 hours of terror in Mumbai that finally spurred the Union Government into action.

The Union Cabinet has cleared the proposal to set up a National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is expected to streamline all terror probes, bringing them under one umbrella.

NIA is being set up to tackle terrorism, insurgency and cyber crimes.

The Cabinet is also looking at amending existing terror laws including the Unlawful Activities Act (Prevention) Act, 1967. A high powered committee headed by the National Security Advisor had recommended a terror law as stringent as Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA).

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram will meet political parties on Tuesday to build a consensus for the federal investigative agency. Chidambaram will also be pitching for the NIA even though Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has voiced her protest.

However, there have been some voices of approval too.

"Even if states suffer some constraint on liberty we should be prepared," Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh said. Even the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in favour of such an agency.

"We want an effective NIA and effective terror laws," said senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu.

The agency will have its own cadre and its own special courts and from now on a terror attack will be considered an emergency, an attack on the nation, making it the Centre's duty to protect the country. So terrorism is being shifted to the Central List, even though law and order continues to be a state subject.

The Law Minister H R Bharadwaj has even said: "We will arm ourselves with laws that deal specifically with terrorist and disruptionist activities."

The recommendations include:

Confessions before a police officer be made admissible as evidence in a court of law

Police remand should be increased to 30 days from the present 15 days, and judicial remand from the present 90 to 180 days

Onus of guilt lies with the accused and not the prosecution, as is the case at the moment

However, the UPA having repealed POTA now stands to lose face as the new law comes through. Meanwhile, the Opposition says the time is right for a new law.

"All this time, the Government has been hesitating to talk about tough laws. It's time that the law came through," said Naidu.

The amended UAPA bill will be tabled in Rajya Sabha soon. Another bill undergoing a change is the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Act. The Cabinet approval will help private agencies to get CISF cover.

The issue was first raised after Reliance's Jamnagar refinery asked for anti-air craft gun since it is considered to be facing threat.

The Government would have introduced the new terror laws sooner but for the Assembly polls. The bottomline is that the Government is finally treating terror as an attack on the country rather than as a mere law and order problem.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)