Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is an Indian law that aims to prevent illegal activities and associations in India. Its main goal was to provide authorities for dealing with activities aimed at undermining India’s integrity and sovereignty. The most recent amendment to the law, the unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019 (UAPA 2019), allows the Union Government to label individuals as terrorists without following procedures. The UAPA is also known as the Anti-Terrorism Act. As a result, these laws can be seen as baby steps away from democracy toward autocracy, which the judiciary must urgently prevent.

What are the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967?

The National Integration Council laid out an organisation on National Regionalisation and Integration to explore the issue of forcing sensible imperatives in light of a legitimate concern for India’s sway and honesty. The NIC’s plan centred around regionalism, casteism, and communalism instead of illegal intimidation. Following the board of trustees’ proposals, the Constitution Act, 1963 was authorised to force practical limitations on India’s sway and trustworthiness. The BJP government announced in 2019 that the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill was introduced in Parliament to carry out the arrangements of the 1963 Act.

In the interests of India’s honesty and sovereign rights, the Constitution Act of 1963 was implemented, enabling the National assembly to impose reasonable regulations on the following by law:

• Expression of ideas and freedom of speech 
• The right to peacefully assemble without the use of force
• The right to organise into organisations or unions

This bill intended to develop authorities to cope with operations to destroy India’s security and independence. The Parliament approved the bill and received the President’s acceptance on December 30, 1967.

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019 

On July 8, 2019, the Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, introduced the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019. The bill modifies the 1967 Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The Act, among other things, establishes special procedures for dealing with terrorist activities. The Lok Sabha passed the act on July 24 and the Rajya Sabha on August 2. On August 8, it received the president’s assent. 

PRS Legislative Research explains the act further below: 

Who has the authority to commit terrorism? According to the Act, a terrorist organisation is one that: 

• Commits or actively participated in terrorist actions
• Plans terrorist acts 
• Encourages terrorist activity or is instead involved in criminal activity. 

The Bill also gives the government the authority to label people as terrorists along the same grounds.

NIA investigation: According to the Act, officers with the position of Deputy Officer in charge, Assistant Deputy in charge, or higher may investigate cases. The Bill also gives NIA officers the position of Officer or higher the authority to conduct investigations. The Bill also gives NIA officers with the rank of Inspector or higher the authority to conduct investigations. The bill also allows NIA officers to obtain the consent of the NIA’s DGP, trying to bypass the Govt dgp. Normally, the officers have 60 to 90 days to conduct an investigation of a case and file a list of charges before the suspect is conferred configuration probation. The UAPA, on the other hand, extends the pre-list of charges to 180 days. Moreover, regular bail law does not apply to a suspect under Segment 43(d)5 of the UAPA.

How was UAPA Criticised?

While announcing the Unlawful Activities Amendment Bill 2019, the Union Government claimed in July 2019 that the bill would consider giving it the authority to investigate violent attacks in India. Nonetheless, political parties in the Lok Sabha classified it as restrictive. The opponents stated that there had been no protections against abusive behaviour in the Bill. The authority to label anyone else a criminal before verifying their guilt in court has been heavily criticised. Commentators of the UAPA assume that the meanings of “terrorist,” “commonly to intimidate,” and “probably to spread fear” are excessively broad and allow access to government corruption because the suspect carries the burden to prove the truth.

International convention for suppression:  According to the United Nations special human rights council, the regulations of the UAPA 2019 violate a few articles of the Convention On Human Rights and the Global Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. India’s political parties dubbed the UAPA a restrictive anti-terror law. According to the BBC, people who have been criminally charged with UAPA have difficulty obtaining bail. The BJP Union Government, prompted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been accused of abusing UAPA 2019 to suppress target and dissent minority groups in India.

On January 20, 2022, the BBC described the UAPA as a draconian anti-terror law, reporting that many protestors and journalists had been 

charged under, detained, or arrested by the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The UAPA had made the International convention for suppression more difficult for the accused to obtain bail. The BJP Union Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been accused of abusing UAPA to stifle dissent and target minorities in India.

Conclusion:

So now, the above theories demonstrate that the amendment jeopardises its citizens’ fundamental rights by putting them in jeopardy and threatening the very existence of opposition. Under the guise of such laws, the government has arrested journalists doing their jobs and citizens demanding their rights and justice.

The UAPA had made the International convention for suppression more difficult for the accused to obtain bail. The right to protest is a fundamental tenet of democracy. Protesting against the government has recently resulted in charges of sedition and being booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act for potential terrorist activities.