Needed: NCTC but remove the apprehensions

cers and the nature of accountability of the officers in the NCTC are not specied. 4. Whether the NCTC is Judge A. Ratnavelu advantages in describing In- liament has been empowered current List. Further, the issue of arrest warrants bound to inform the State dia as a Union of States supra to pass valid and just law on doctrine of occupied eld and throughout India to prevent concerned of the stage or prohe vociferous objections rather than as federal. The the State subjects (State List) the doctrine of severability terrorist attacks. It is needed gress of investigation is not of some States to the pro- sagacity of framers lies in rec- under Articles 3 and 245 to play a vital role in overriding for curbing terrorism in a full- specically stated (regarding posal for establishing a Na- ognising the unity and integ- 254. The position of the Cen- the role of the States in the edged way. coordination, information tional Counter Terrorism rity of India. That is why Dr. tre and the States is dilated in law making process in the The safety of people is at and documents with the other Centre (NCTC) have raised Ambedkar explained emphat- the following aspects. Thus, Concurrent List ( AIR 1979 SC stake in most of the States: intelligence agencies of the questions about the term ically in the Constituent As- the objections of some States 898 (M. Karunanidhi vs. extremism and a separatist States). federalism. sembly that he applied the to the establishment of the Union of India) and AIR 1996 movement in Jammu and 5. It is not clear whether the The crux of the objections term UNION so that the NCTC do not hold water on SC 2384 (T.K.V.T.S.S. Medical Kashmir, ULFA and Bodo Ex- States concerned are entitled is that the sovereign power of States (units) will have no the ground of federalism. Ac- and Educational Charitable tremists in the North-East, to get the relevant informathe States is violated in the right to secede from the cording to Article 3, Parlia- Trust vs. State of Tamil Naxalites in eastern India and tion at any stage of investigafederal structure. some parts of Maharashtra tion from the NCTC. ment has got powers to enact Nadu). Union. We have to examine Apart from that, Presi- and Andhra Pradesh, terrorist laws on the formation of (a) Whether the NCTC vio- Federalism in U.S. dents Rule under Article 356 organisations, i.e., Indian Mu- Conclusion States thus: The United States of Amer1) According to Articles 3, lates the basic structure of a) To form a new State by speaks of the power of the jahideen (SIMI). federalism and deprives the ica is a classic example of fed- separation of territory from Centre over the States in case Though objections raised and 245 to 254 of the ConstiStates of their sovereign eralism in the world. Now, any State or by uniting the of failure of the constitutional by the States to the NCTC are tution, the Centre is placed in rights under the Constitution; the analogy is focused only on States machinery (AIR 1994- not tenable, they seem to be a dominant position as to the (b) Whether the States the position of the States of well-founded in respect of the formation of the States and b) To increase the area of SC-1918 (Bommais case). (units) in India claim the India in its Constitution and any State powers given to the agency the law-making powers in same sovereign rights of the their status cannot be equated c) To diminish the area of NCTC and its necessity under the Union Home Min- State subjects as also in the The people of India have istry as per section 43(A) of national interest. Hence, the States as in the American with the States of America the State though the Indian ConstituConstitution and; d) To alter the boundaries not yet recovered from the the Unlawful Activities (Pre- NCTC, to be established for trauma of terrorist killings in vention) Act 1967. curbing terrorist attacks by it(c) Whether the NCTC will tion is said to be a federal of any State and self, will not be construed as a be efficacious in combating forum or quasi-federal in They are: e) To alter the name of any Mumbai in 2008. The attack was quelled by the anti-ternature. terrorism. 1) As wide powers are given violation of federalism under State The States in the U.S. have The founders of our ConstiFurther, the 18th Amend- rorist forces of the Centre to the NCTC, the agency could the Constitution. 2) The objections and reatution declared unequivocally got the right to make their ment, 1966 was made to with great difficulty after a be directed solely at the behin the very First Article itself own Constitutions and they strengthen the powers of Par- prolonged struggle. est of Home Ministry without sonable apprehensions raised Thus, to combat terrorism taking the consent of the State by the States, particularly on that Bharat shall be a Union have got dual citizenship. liament under Article 3 for of States. It is signicant that But in India, the States have deciding the rights of position effectively, the Centre pro- concerned. So, there will be the role of the NCTC with the posed the NCTC on the lines political mileage to be gener- ample powers of Section the term federal is conspic- only ONE citizenship. Fur- of the States. of the NCTC in the U.S. The ated in respect of searches 43(A) of Unlawful Activities uously absent in Article No I ther, residue powers have fact of lack of intelligence in- and been vested only with the Legislative relations supra. arrests against (Prevention) Act 1967 have to Articles 245 to 254, per- puts and lack of prompt coor- opponents. be examined carefully withThe Drafting Committee States in the U.S. whereas in led by Dr. Ambedkar exam- the Indian Constitution, the taining to the powers of Par- dination among intelligence 2. The clear-cut consent or out any political colour. (The writer is president, ined carefully the federal as- Residue Powers are only in liament, manifest without any agencies during the Mumbai concurrence of the State conDistrict Consumer Disputes ambiguity that the Centre has attacks cannot be ignored. pects and their implication the hands of the Centre. cerned for launching probe in Redressal Forum, The NCTC derives its pow- the event of a terrorist attack The Centre is placed in a been empowered to control for the battered Indian States Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu. left by the British rule in 1947. dominant position with a the acts of States under the ers from the Unlawful Activ- has not been spelt out. Email: chengalpattu.dcdrf@ It preferred the term Union unitary spirit. Though the DOCTRINE OF REPUGNAN- ities (Prevention) Act 1967, in 3 .The mode of appointgmail.com) in the rst article. It found the Constitution is supreme, Par- CY particularly in the Con- respect of searches and the ment of the investigating offi-