UAPA
BAN - DEFENCE & SECURITY
News: Centre extends UAPA ban on eight
Meitei extremist organisations
What's
in the news?
●
The Union Home Ministry on Monday extended
the ban under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against eight
"Meitei extremist organisations" for advocating secession of Manipur
from India through armed struggle.
●
It declared the eight outfits
"unlawful associations" for inciting indigenous people of Manipur for
such secession, a notification said.
The
process to declare an association unlawful:
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Under Section
4 of the UAPA, the government is mandated to send the notification to the Unlawful Activities Prevention Tribunal
within 30 days of issuing the gazette notification to have the ban
ratified.
○
The Ministry will have to make a reference
to the Tribunal along with details of cases the National Investigation Agency,
Enforcement Directorate, and state police forces have registered against PFI
and its cadres across the country.
●
The Tribunal,
which is required to be headed by a retired or sitting judge of a High Court,
will then issue a show-cause notice to the PFI asking it to reply in writing
about why it should not be banned.
○
After arguments from both sides, the
Tribunal can hold an inquiry to decide within six months on whether there is
sufficient evidence to declare PFI an “unlawful association”.
○
The ban becomes applicable for a period of
five years once the Tribunal approves it.
Consequences
of being declared unlawful:
●
Declaring an organisation an unlawful
organisation, as has happened in the case of the PFI now, has serious
consequences in law, which include the criminalisation of its membership and
the forfeiture of the properties of the organisation.
●
Under Section
7 of the UAPA, the government has power to prohibit the use of funds of an
unlawful association and,
●
Under Section
8, all places that are used by the unlawful association can be notified and
seized.
Go
back to basics:
The
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA):
●
It is an Indian law (also known as the
Anti-terror law) enacted in 1967 and
applies to citizens of India who are abroad, persons in service of the Indian
government, and persons on ships and aircraft registered in India.
●
It lays down the definitions and rules for designating an organisation as an
"unlawful association" if it is engaged in certain types of
activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty of India.
●
Under the Act, the central government may
designate an organisation as a terrorist organisation if it:
○
commits or participates in acts of
terrorism;
○
prepares for terrorism;
○
promotes terrorism;
○
is otherwise involved in terrorism;
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The most recent amendment of the law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment
Act, 2019 has made it possible for the Union Government to designate individuals as terrorists without
following any formal judicial process.