Rajya Sabha Clears UAPA Bill, Govt Now Has Power to Declare Individuals as Terrorist

The Opposition has been maintaining that the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment (UAPA) Bill is "a dangerous piece of legislation" and will be used against the BJP's ideological opponents and wanted the amendment to be sent to the select committee. It believes the legislation is an attack on federalism, democratic rights and liberty of citizens.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah speaking in Rajya Sabha. (PIC/RSTV)

New Delhi: The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill passed the Rajya Sabha test on Friday. The Bill now enabled the government to designate individuals as terrorists and seize his properties.  It was passed in parliament with 147 Ayes and 42 Noes. As the Bill was being discussed in the Upper House, senior Congress MP P Chidambaram hit at the government, saying “If you see reasons for amendment, it says 'to empower NIA'.In passing you say 'empowers Centre to add or remove an individual's name as a terrorist', this mischief is why we are opposing this amendment, we are not opposing Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.” Another senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said, “we doubt their (BJP) intent. Congress never compromised on terrorism that is why we had brought this law. It is you who compromised on terror, once during release of Rubaiya Saeed ji and second by letting off Masood Azhar.” The Opposition has been maintaining that the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment (UAPA) Bill is "a dangerous piece of legislation" and will be used against the BJP's ideological opponents and wanted the amendment to be sent to the select committee. It believes the legislation is an attack on federalism, democratic rights and liberty of citizens. Home Minister Amit Shah who has been defending amendments to the anti-terror law in both Houses of Parliament asserted that anti-terror laws would not be misused and used only to root out terrorism. Countering the Opposition’s allegations, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said “If we support this bill unanimously then our agencies will have more powers to operate at an international level.” We can’t wait for other laws and interventions to create obstacles in our investigation, Shah added. Allaying fears of the opposition, Shah said there is a provision for the individual to approach the higher courts. There is a committee that's formed for appeal. There is a review committee which is quasi-judicial body and then high courts can be approached. There won't be violation of human rights. Scrutiny will happen in four stages.