ANTI TERROR BILL 2019: The Rajya Sabha on Friday passed the Unlawful Activities Prevention Amendment (UAPA) Bill 2019 by a majority of 147 to 42 votes, clearing decks for the National Investigation Agency to tighten its grip on terrorists. Rajya Sabha passed the Bill after days of deadlock between the government and opposition parties over the controversial legislation.
The Rajya Sabha rejected a proposal moved by opposition parties to send the bill to a select committee of Parliament for further scrutiny. Out of the total members who voted, 147 MPs were in favour of passing the new changes to the anti-terror bill while 42 voted against it. With the Centre managing its numbers on the floor of the Upper House where it is in minority, the Bill also escaped scrutiny of a select committee, with 104 members voting against it.
One of the contentious parts among the amendments is that it will give the government power to declare any individual as a terrorist.
Before the Rajya Sabha took up the matter for voting in today’s session, Union Home Minister Amit Shah responded to concerns Opposition had raised with regards to the bill. Shah said that the sole purpose of the UAPA Bill is to fight terror and it has no other ulterior motive.
“Till 31 July 2019 the NIA has seen a 91% conviction rate in terror cases. The cases NIA registers are complex and spread across the country. There is a four stage provision to ensure that there is no scope for misuse. The amendments also define that an individual will be declared a terrorist when he is found abetting and supporting terror activities, orchestrating a terror act and spreading the message of terror,” Amit Shah said.
Amit Shah also urged that there should be no politics over this bill as it is crucial and in the interest of national security. He also assured that the bill in no way weakens the powers of state police departments, adding that the NIA will only notify state police in such cases.
Anti Terror Bill 2019: HIGHLIGHTS
- Rajya Sabha members finally voted in favour of amendments to anti-terror bill
- Amit Shah said the bill is necessary to eliminate terrorism from the country
- Senior Congress leaders were not on board with certain provisions in the bill
Kapil Sibal said, “Those who speak against you would be declared terrorists”.
The anti-terror Bill empowers the government to designate individuals as terrorists and was introduced in the Rajya Sabha by Minister of State (MoS) Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy.
Soon after the bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha, several Congress and DMK leaders staged a walkout after the Chair rejected their plea to further discuss the bill on Friday.
While discussing the bill, Congress leader Kapil Sibal had also argued that the bill does not define a terrorist as mentioned in the bill. He said that the definition is not clear in the House.
