AFSPA:

It is an Act empowering armed forces to deal effectively in Disturbed Areas.

Any area which is declared Disturbed under the disturbed areas act enables
armed forces to resort to the provisions of AFSPA.

Who declares an area as disturbed?

The choice of declaring any area as disturbed vests both with state and
central government.

Special powers provided to armed forces:

After an area comes under the ambit of AFSPA, any commissioned officer,
warrant officer, non-commissioned officer or another person of equivalent rank
can use force for a variety of reasons while still being immune to the
prosecution.

Ambit:
The act was passed on 11 September 1958 by the parliament of
India to provide special legal security to the armed forces carrying
out operations in the troubled areas of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,
Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura (seven sisters).

In 1990 the act was extended to the state of Jammu and Kashmir to
confront the rising insurgency in the area.

In Manipur, despite opposition from the Central government, state

government withdrew the Act in some parts in Aug, 2004.

The government can declare AFSPA in the following

conditions:
When the local administration fails to deal with local issues and the
police proves inefficient to cope with them.

 When the scale of unrest or instability in the state is too large for
the police to handle.

Legal provisions of AFSPA:

In an area declared disturbed an army officer is legally free to

carry out following operations:

Fire upon or otherwise use force, even to the causing of death,

against any person who is acting in contravention of any law
against assembly of five or more persons or possession of deadly
weapons.

Destroy any shelter (private or govt.) from which armed attacks are
made or likely to be made or attempted to be made.

Arrest any person without warrant who has committed a cognizable

offence or against whom a reasonable suspicion exists that he has
committed or is about to commit a cognizable offence.

Enter and search, without warrant, any premises for purpose of

arrest or to recover any person, arms, and explosives.

To search and seize any vehicle suspected to be carrying an

offender or any person against whom any reasonable suspicion
exists that he has or is about to commit an offence.

To provide legal immunity to the army personnel found involved in

any violation or ethical breach i.e., they cannot be sued or
prosecuted.

Why do armed forces need AFSPA?

The forces are aware that they cannot afford to fail when called
upon to safeguard the countrys integrity. Hence, they require the
minimum legislation that is essential to ensure efficient utilization of
combat capability. This includes safeguards from legal harassment
and empowerment of its officers to decide on employment of the
minimum force that they consider essential.

The absence of such a legal statute would adversely affect

organizational flexibility and the utilization of the security capacity
of the state. This would render the security forces incapable of
fulfilling their assigned role.

Common people see it as Right to Kill Act. Since its inception

many Human Rights organizations and civil societies have been
opposing it for the following reasons:

It makes no distinction between a peaceful gathering of five or

more people and a berserk mob.

The law also states that, no prosecution can be initiated against

an officer without the previous sanction of the Central
government.

The decision of the government to declare a particular area

disturbed cannot be challenged in a court of law.

In 2005, the Jeevan Reddy Commission said that AFSPA should be

repealed and the clauses that are required should be included in
other Acts.