Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act

News: Recently, NewsClick faced allegations of receiving illegal funding from China aimed at propagating Chinese propaganda.

What is UAPA?
• The UAPA is an anti-terrorism law that was first enacted in 1967 with the primary objective to effectively prevent and deal with activities that pose a threat to the sovereignty and integrity of India.
• It refers to any action taken by an individual or association intended to disrupt the territorial integrity and sovereignty in India.
• UAPA extends to the whole of India. The provisions of this Act apply also to I) Citizens of India outside India, II) Persons in the service of the Government, wherever they may be and III) Persons on ships and aircrafts, registered in India, wherever they may be.

What constitutes a Terrorist act?
• Whoever does any act with intent to threaten the unity, integrity, security (including economic security) or sovereignty of India or with intent to strike terror in the people commits a terrorist act.
• Any person who is a member of a terrorist organization shall be sentenced to 10 years in prison under Sections 20 and 38. The UAPA
schedule includes a list of prohibited groups.
• In 2019, the act was amended with the Government can now declare an individual as “terrorist” and append their name in Schedule IV of the Act without any due process. It also empowers the Director General of National Investigation Agency (NIA) to grant approval of seizure or attachment of property

Need for UAPA
• Maintaining Sovereignty and Integrity of India
• Handling Terrorist Activities: UAPA is a crucial act for handling terrorist activities in India. It provides a legal framework to deal with activities that threaten India’s integrity and sovereignty.
• Regulating Unlawful Associations
• Preventing Misuse of Funds: After declaring an association as unlawful, the central government can stop the unlawful associations from using their funds, money, credits, and securities.
• UAPA provides strict penalties for various offenses related to terrorism and unlawful activities. This serves as a deterrent for individuals or groups involved in such activities.
• UAPA facilitates cooperation with foreign governments in matters related to counterterrorism. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) requires the States to take action against certain terrorists and terrorist
organizations.
• Preventive Detention: This allows law enforcement agencies to take pre-emptive action against individuals who are perceived to be a threat to national security.

Challenges
• An individual may be identified as a terrorist without any judicial scrutiny and even before the commencement of a trial. This is violative of the right to equality (Article 14), free speech (Article 19) and life (Article 21) of the Constitution.
• UAPA is created for extreme and exceptional circumstances, but it is being used routinely to suppress dissent. According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data for 2019, 1,226 cases under UAPA were filed, which indicates a hike of 33% from the year 2016.
• The Act allows confessions made to police officers to be admissible in certain circumstances which might lead to coerced confessions and undermine the principles of fairness and due process.
• The definition of ‘terrorist act’ in UAPA is vague with the usage of words such as unity, integrity, and national security. This allows the Act to be invoked discriminately even against so-called “Urban Naxals” and extremists using literature to propagate hate against the government.