Anti-terrorism ordinance likely

By Vinay Kumar

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 22. The Centre is contemplating promulgation of an ordinance to deal with terrorist crimes, now that a new urgency has asserted itself after the September 11 terrorist strikes in New York and Washington.

A legal vacuum was being felt in combating terrorism after the lapse of the Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), 1987. With Parliament not in session, an ordinance to combat terrorism could be promulgated by the President and it would have the same force as the law duly enacted by Parliament.

In the absence of TADA, the Law Commission was requested by the Government about two years ago to take a holistic view of the need for a comprehensive anti-terrorism law after looking into similar legislations enacted by other countries. The Commission proposed several amendments in the Criminal Law Amendment Bill, 1995, but a debate has been simmering to provide more effective safeguards to the accused.

Highly-placed sources indicated that the Government was veering around to the view that an ordinance for the time being would be able to tackle anti-national activities, combat terrorist crimes, particularly in view of the aid and assistance being received by various terrorist groups from across the border. With the BJP-led coalition at the Centre keen to shed the ``soft state'' image of the country and global efforts currently on to combat the menace of terrorism by tough measures, there may be little opposition to stringent provisions which could find their way into the ordinance.

In the U.S., the list of ``federal crimes of terrorism'' covers a number of crimes like hostage taking, bombings, biological weapons, violence at international airports, destruction of communication lines, manslaughter of foreign officials and providing material support to terrorist organisations. After the September 11 terrorist strikes, the Bush administration has hinted at even tougher anti-terrorism laws.

In the recent past, the Chief Ministers had outrightly rejected the Centre's move to categorise some of the crimes as ``federal crimes'' and set up a federal crime fighting agency. The Tamil Nadu Government was forced to repeal the Prevention of Terrorists Activities (POTA) Act as certain ``draconian measures'' in it attracted widespread criticism.

The Government had been keen on the States bringing in their own legislation like the Prevention of Organised Crime Act in Maharashtra. Legal circles pointed out that a number of convictions had taken place in Maharashtra under the Act. Those in favour of anti-terrorism law have stressed on the need to enact a comprehensive law and make criminal justice system and procedures effective.

Though the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has provisions to take care of sedition, waging war against the government, arson, loot as well as the Arms Act and Explosive Substances Act, nevertheless the need has been felt for a comprehensive anti-terrorism law and special courts to conduct speedy trials.

Provisions of the erstwhile TADA were tilted against the accused as the Indian Evidence Act did not apply and the standard of proof was quite low, putting the accused at a distinct disadvantage. But the most scathing criticism of TADA was on account of making confession by an accused admissible before a police officer. In many cases, legal sources pointed out, the provisions of TADA were misused in States like Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and Maharashtra.

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