NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL DEAR REDIFF THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES US ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
Amidst noisy protests from members on the propriety of Defence Minister George Fernandes meeting Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader V Gopalasamy aka Vaiko, arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, in jail, the Centre told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that there was no proposal to amend the law.
"There are enough provisions in the law for the judiciary to ensure the prevention of POTA's misuse," Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani said.
Responding to a spate of queries from the opposition on Fernandes's meeting with Vaiko, after Indian National Lok Dal member Sushil Kumar Indora's starred question was taken up, Advani defended his colleague, saying he saw nothing wrong in a member of government meeting a colleague who is in custody.
Arguing that the Centre had nothing to do with Vaiko's arrest, Advani said state governments were responsible for applying POTA and the courts for deciding on the merits of the case. The law itself, he continued, has provisions to check its misuse.
Minister of State for Home Ch Vidyasagar Rao said central and state-level authorities, including a designated authority and a review authority, had been set up to look into any aspect of any complaint.
Asserting that the Centre would do whatever was required under these provisions, Advani told the House that he had not received a single complaint from any of the 256 persons arrested under POTA so far, including Vaiko.
Indora had sought to know if the government had received any complaint of POTA's misuse and what steps it was contemplating to check and monitor possible abuse of the law.
Raising supplementaries to the starred question, members charged the defence minister with serious impropriety in meeting a person held arrested for allegedly promoting a banned terrorist outfit.
They said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was responsible for the deaths of a number of Indian soldiers in Sri Lanka in the late 1980s and it was scandalous for a defence minister to meet a person having links with those same terrorists.
In his written reply to the original question, Vidyasagar Rao said the states where people had been arrested under POTA include Maharashtra (113 arrests), Jammu & Kashmir (104), Delhi (20), Tamil Nadu (nine), Uttar Pradesh (six), and Andhra Pradesh (one).
Rao too explained that many safeguards had been incorporated in POTA to minimise chances of its misuse. These include stipulations that offences will be investigated by an officer not below the rank of deputy superintendent of police and that no court will take cognizance of an offence without the sanction of the state or central government as the case may be.
The act also provides safeguards against abuse of the provision relating to admissibility of a confession made to a police officer.
Intimation of a person's arrest to a family member immediately after arrest is mandatory and this has to be recorded by the investigating officer. Besides, a lawyer is allowed to meet the accused during interrogation.
The law also provides for prosecution of police officers guilty of mala fide actions. In such cases, the affected persons are entitled to compensation.
Rao added that states and Union territories have been advised to ensure that the law is used only against terrorists and not innocents by sensitizing police officers and others concerned with its implementation and installing a mechanism to oversee their work.
EARLIER REPORT: Opposition slams George's meeting with Vaiko
The Prevention of Terrorism Act: The complete coverage
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
