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Review panel report soon

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI APRIL 18. A three-member committee headed by a retired Punjab Chief Justice, Arun B. Saharia, constituted to go into allegations of the misuse of the Prevention of Terrorism Act by the State Governments will soon present its views to the Centre, the Union Home Secretary, N. Gopalaswami, said today.

In an informal chat with reporters here, he said the POTA was introduced to tackle terrorism but the need for constituting this high-level review panel was felt after the Centre had received complaints of "misuse" of its provisions.

Questioned on his view of handling of the POTA by the Tamil Nadu Government, the Home Secretary shot back: ``My perception does not count".

When his attention was drawn to persistent queries on refusal of permission by the Tamil Nadu Government for Union Ministers to visit the jailed MDMK leader, Vaiko, Mr. Gopalaswami said, "I will not answer any politically-loaded question".

Also refusing to be drawn into queries on the series of "midnight arrests" initiated by the police of DMK leaders, he said there were enough safeguards under the law for individuals to deal with this issue.

Asked whether the Home Ministry was happy about the working of the joint task force to nab the sandalwood fugitive, Veerappan, he said the Centre was closely monitoring its activities. "We have the policing expertise. But what we need now is effective intelligence to nab him". The Tamil Nadu Government had optimally utilised the Central financial assistance. "We are willing to offer any logistics support whenever sought by the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Governments".

Referring to the recent "mystery flights" of foreign origin intruding the Indian air space, Mr. Gopalswami said the Home Ministry was fully aware of these episodes and decided to step up vigil and keep a tab on their operations. The Centre decided to post Air Force officers on deputation at the ATC towers for effective liaison.

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