Govt plans to take NCTC out of IB's ambit

The home ministry will approach the Cabinet Committee on Security after July 19 Presidential poll for approval of the revised plan for National Counterterrorism Center which will be taken out from the ambit of the Intelligence Bureau and conduct operations only when there is an urgency.

Faced with strong opposition from several chief ministers to the earlier proposal of NCTC, the home ministry is preparing a revised plan for implementing the ambitious project and will approach the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by prime minister for its approval.

"After the CCS approval, a revised order will be issued notifying the states," an official said.

According to the new plan, the NCTC will now be kept out of the ambit of the Intelligence Bureau and will be an independent entity directly reporting to the home ministry.

Besides, the anti-terror body will conduct operations on its own only if there is an urgency or in rarest of rarest case.

The revised plan for NCTC, a pet project of Home Minister P Chidambaram, is being prepared after the Centre faced strong opposition to NCTC from chief ministers at a specially convened meeting on May 5.

Those who opposed NCTC include chief ministers like Naveen Patnaik (Odisha), J Jayalalithaa (Tamil Nadu), Narendra Modi (Gujarat) and ally Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal). They said such a body with such powers will hurt the federal structure of the country.

According to the earlier proposal, the Multi Agency Centre and the operations wing of the Intelligence Bureau were earmarked for the NCTC and the home ministry had passed an ordinance making the new anti-terror body as a nodal organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.