Vivek V Rajan, Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram
Abstract
Indian Counter terrorism law has evolved from the Unlawful Activities Act, 1967 ( through the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act, 1987 ( to the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 ( Section 15 of the UAPA defines a ‘terrorist act ’as “wh oever does any act with intent to threaten or likely to threaten the unity, integrity, security or sovereignty of India or with intent to strike terror or likely to strike terror in the people or any section of the people in India or in any foreign country Courts read these specific laws with various sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. In PUCL v. Union of India, the SC upheld the constitutional validity of POTA as not “offending Article 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(c) of the Constitution of India. In Kasab v. State of Maharashtra the SC approved the death sentence of the terrorist given “the death penalty remains on the statute book as punishment for certain offences, including waging war and murder. The National Investigation Agency Act has made the NIA the central counter terrorism law enforcement agency in India. Section 1(2)(a) of the NIA Act applies “to citizens of India outside India Sections 20 and 38 of the UAPA define punishment for “any person who is a member of a terrorist gang or organisation with imprisonment for 10 years. The schedule of the UAPA lists banned organizations too.
