NIA Full Form

After the 2008 Terror Attack in Mumbai, which emphasized the necessity for a robust investigative framework, the Indian Government proposed a solution for an agency that would be able to handle with terror-related offenses across states without requiring specific approval. Hence, the National Investigation Agency was established in Parliament with the support of the union home minister and the President. 

National Investigation Agency

As the Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency, the National Investigation Agency is in charge. Without special permission from the states, the agency can examine any terror-related incident across the country. It carries out the United Nations, its agencies, and other international organisations’ international treaties, conventions, agreements, and resolutions. Its goal is also to fight terrorism in India.

Jurisdiction        

• If a case has been made for the crimes listed in the NIA Act’s schedule, a State Legislature might ask that the Central Government take over the inquiry to the NIA

• The National Government can also instruct the National Investigation Agency to prosecute any registered offence in India

Features

The NIA has the following characteristics:

• Officers have all of the same powers and liabilities as police officers to investigate any crime
• When an officer of a police station receives a report of an offence, they must convey it to the federal government, then send it to the centre
• There is also a provision for the investigation of crimes to be transferred to the state government with prior consent from the Centre
• The government must provide the NIA with all necessary support in investigating terror-related offenses
• The Act’s investigation provisions have no bearing on the state government’s ability to investigate and prosecute any terror crime or other offense
• For the trial of any offence under the Act, there is a provision for a special court to have all of the powers of a court of sessions under the Criminal Procedure Code
• Any subject standing in the special court may be transferred to that other special jurisdiction with the same or different state for a speedy and impartial trial by the Judicial Branch. Such matters may be transferred to any other special court only within the state for an impartial trial by the High Court

NIA Special Courts

• The National Government of India has announced many Special Courts
• The Federal Government decides on any issue of these courts’ jurisdiction
• On the assurance of the Chief Justice of the High Court authority in that region, the Government assigns a judge to serve over these
• The Supreme Court of India also has been given the authority to reassign matters from one court to another, either within or beyond the state

NIA Act 2008

The Act establishes the National Investigation Agency as the country’s only fully federal agency, comparable to the FBI in the United States and more potent than the CBI. It empowers the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take cognizance of terror operations in any part of India and file a case and enter any state without the state government’s approval, investigate and arrest suspects.

Changes made in 2019

• The NIA Amendment Act of 2019 broadened the scope of crimes that the agency can investigate and prosecute. Human trafficking, the manufacturing of forbidden weapons, counterfeit currency, cyber-terrorism, and offenses under the Explosive Substances Act of 1908 is now among the crimes that the agency can investigate
• Under the amendment, the Central Government can also designate sessions courts as special courts for NIA trials
• Applied the NIA Act’s provisions to persons who commit a listed offence against Indian citizens or impact India’s interests outside India
• Officers of the National Investigation Agency will have identical powers, responsibilities, privileges, and liabilities when investigating crimes in India and abroad
• The federal government and state governments may designate Sessions Courts as Special Courts for the purpose of conducting criminal trials
• It gave the central Government the authority to prosecute a scheduled offence committed outside India

The Criteria for Terrorist Activity Recognition

• Aiding or undertaking a terrorist act is punishable by ten years in jail
• Terrorism uses dynamite, poisonous gases, and biological, radioactive nuclear agents
• Funding terrorist activities and recalling people for terrorist acts are punishable by at least five years in prison
• No bail would be allowed if the accused is not an Indian citizen and has entered the country illegally
• No one should be freed on bail or a personal bond.

Criticism from the NIA

• The Constitution’s Schedule VII lists the protection of public order and police forces as matters of state
• The concurrent list includes criminal law, while the domains of the union list include national security
• The NIA has been given the authority to investigate offences such as drug trafficking and some violations of the Arms Act
• Section 66F also addresses cyber terrorism
• The NIA Act authorises the investigation of crimes committed by foreigners against Indian citizens that are “injurious to India’s interests”

Conclusion

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is doing an outstanding job in the fight against terrorism. The NIA is evolving into a goal-oriented and professional organisation that upholds the Indian Constitution and national law while emphasising human rights and dignity. Perhaps this is why there aren’t many terror attacks in civilian areas.