- NSA is an act of the Indian Parliament Promulgated on 23 September 1980
- The purpose is to provide for preventive detention in certain cases and for matters connected therewith.
- The act extends to the whole of India.
- It contains 18 sections
- This the act empowers the central government and state government to undertake preventive detention of a person.
History of Preventive detention laws:
- British the government enacted the Rowlett acts of 1919 that allowed confinement of a suspect without trial.
- Post-independence, India got its first preventive detention rule when the government the preventive detention act of 1950
- The
NSA is a close iteration of the 1950 act.
Preventive:
- Preventive detention involves the detainment of a person in order to keep him from committing future crimes and from escaping future prosecution.
- Article 22(3) (b) of the constitution allows for preventive detention and restriction on personal liberty for reasons of state security and public order.
- Article 22(4) states that no law providing for preventive detention shall authorize the detention of a person for a longer period than three months unless:
- An advisory board reports sufficient cause for extended detention, Such a person is detained in accordance with the provisions of any law made by the parliament.
Powers of NSA:
- The NSA empowers the center or a state government to detain a person to prevent him from acting in any manner prejudicial to national security.
- The government can also detain a person to prevent him from disrupting public order or for maintenance od supplies and services essential to the community.
- Period of condiment. the maximum period for which one may be detained in 12 months.
- But the terms can be extended if the government finds fresh evidence
Who has the power to use NSA?
- The order can be made by the district magistrate or commissioner of police under their respective jurisdictions
- The detention should be reported to the state government along with the ground on which the order has been made.
- No such order shall remain in force for more than twelve days sunless approved by the state government.
Right if a person detained:
- No basic rights to people detained under the NSA, including the right to be informed of the reason for the arrest.
- Under the NSA, a person could be kept in the dark about the reasons for his arrest for up to five days, and in exceptional circumstances up to ten days.
- Even when providing the grounds for arrest, the government can withhold information which it considers being against the public interest to disclose.
No Legal Aid:
- Article 22(1) of the constitution says an arrested person cannot be denied the right to consult, and to be defended by, a legal practitioner of his choice.
- Under the NSA, the arrested person is not entitled to the aid of any legal practitioner in any matter connected with the proceedings before an advisory board, which is constituted by the government for dealing with NSA cases.