GOVT OKAYS ORDINANCE TO REPEAL POTA
The Cabinet has okayed an ordinance to repeal Pota, but decided
to tone down the definition of terrorism to be included in
the amended version of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act, dropping from its ambit the 'unauthorised possession
of specified arms/ ammunition in a notified area'.
The decision to drop Section 4(a) of Pota - which says that
any person in unauthorised possession of arms or ammunition
specified in columns (2) and (3) of Category I or III(a) of
Schedule I of Arms Rules, 1962, in a notified area... is guilty
of a terrorist act - was taken in view of its "wide misuse",
especially where all parts of a state are notified.
"The clause was found amenable to great misuse, as all
those found in possession of illegal arms were immediately
branded as terrorists, whether or not they had any terror
links," a senior MHA official said
The most prominent beneficiary of dropping this clause will
be none other than UP minister Raja Bhaiyya, who was charged
under Pota by the erstwhile Mayawati government for the alleged
illegal possession of AK-47.
Although his case will also be reviewed by the Central Pota
Review Committee, the fact that this offence no longer qualifies
as terrorism under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,
is expected to go in his favour and may lead the panel to
recommend dropping the Pota charges against him.
At the same time, there is a view that the exclusion of unauthorised
possession of arms from the purview of terrorism may handicap
the intelligence agencies in cracking down on armed ultras
in J&K and insurgency-hit states in the North-East, although
they can still be charged under the relevant laws such as
the Arms Act. Of course, the punishment will be far less stringent
than the maximum sentence for life handed out under Pota.
Announcing the Cabinet's approval for an ordinance to repeal
Pota and another to amend the Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act, Union home minister Shivraj Patil said here on Friday
that the "UPA had finally kept its promise made in the
CMP and would bring two bills in the next session to replace
the ordinances."
The new Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act shifts the onus
on the prosecution to prove an accused guilty and relaxes
the stringent bail provisions of Pota, besides doing away
with the provision wherein confession made before a police
officer is admissible in court as well as the stringent penalty
clause for persons who withhold information about a terrorist
from the law enforcement agencies. All the 32 organisations
banned under Pota will now be banned under the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act.
As for the pending Pota cases, the draft ordinance effecting
its repeal provides for a sunset clause wherein the Central
Pota Review Committee, or if need be more such committees,
will take up review of all the cases within a year from its
repeal.
Where the cases are under investigation or at the trial stage,
if the review committee finds that no prima facie case is
made out, they will be deemed to have been withdrawn and investigation
stopped forthwith.
As for cases where the chargesheet has already been filed,
if the committee finds them to be a fit case under Pota, the
court can take cognisance of the offence within one year from
the repeal or the anti-terror law.
