Govt considering prevention of Terrorism Bill

NEW DELHI, MAY 17: Home minister L K Advani today said the government was considering the draft of Prevention of Terrorism Bill submitted ...

NEW DELHI, MAY 17: Home minister L K Advani today said the government was considering the draft of Prevention of Terrorism Bill submitted by the Law Commission to replace the elapsed Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) and ruled out bringing back an amended version of the controversial Act.

Replying to questions in the Rajya Sabha, Advani said the government would take the views of all states and political parties before bringing the new legislation.

"The new bill would have adequate safeguards to prevent its misuse and at the same time be effective to fight terrorism," he said, adding that abuse of provisions of TADA was the main reason for allowing it to lapse in 1995.

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"It should not be a cosmetic law. It should not be enacted just because we don’t have a central law to deal with terrorism," Advani added.

He said the Law Commission submitted the draft bill in the last week of April after the government referred the matter to the Commission.

The draft bill was prepared by the Commission after studying similar laws in other countries and discussions with various sections of society.

Minister of State for Home Vidya Sagar Rao said the issue was referred to the Law Commission as there was no consensus among political parties on Criminal Law Amendment Bill, which was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in 1997 to replace TADA.

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Rao said the twin objectives of the new bill would be to counter terrorist activities in the country and safeguard the interests of the accused.

The Minister of State said the present laws were sufficient to deal with growing terrorist violence in the country.

Advani said the Law Commission in its report had concurred with internal security experts’ view that terrorism was not a passing phase and said future generations would hold us responsible for dereliction of duty if the menace was not effectively countered.

Stating that terrorism was one of the biggest challenges facing the country, Advani said many states have already enacted anti-terrorism laws in their states to deal with the situation.

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Advani said the draft bill would be sent to all states for their views and discussed at the next meeting of the Consultative Committee attached to the ministry.

On TADA detainees still languishing in various jails, the minister said the Supreme Court had already taken cognizance of the matter and asked the government to review all TADA related cases.

A large number of TADA detainees have been released or are on bail, Advani said, adding that the ministry was reviewing all cases from time to time.

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