Govt. bid to allay fears on POTO

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV. 6. In a bid to evolve its strategy to take on the Opposition in the coming winter session of Parliament during a debate on the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) and dispel misgivings, the Government today held a briefing for the partners of the ruling NDA coalition, a few Central Ministers and select BJP MPs.

The briefing and the meeting at the North Block was convened by the Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani. The presentation at the meeting, lasting for two hours, was accompanied by a slide show in which several provisions of POTO and the notions against it were explained by the senior Home Ministry officials.

Emerging out of the meeting, the Union Law Minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley, sought to allay the apprehensions voiced by the Opposition parties, saying these were misplaced and based on ``factually incorrect'' information.

``Statements by political leaders in this regard are being made without reading the law. There are no such provisions in POTO like disclosure of source by journalists or the onus of proof being on the accused,'' Mr. Jaitley told reporters.

Mr. Nitish Kumar, Railways Minister and senior Samata Party leader, a key ally of the NDA, said that several misplaced notions were dispelled at the meeting. Several of the provisions were entirely different than the lapsed-TADA and did not sound ``very harsh.'' The Opposition's tirade against the ordinance was based on ``non-existent issues'' and the Law Commission had played a vital role in drafting the provisions.

The meeting was attended by the BJP president, Mr. Jana Krishnamurthy, and the Central Ministers, Mr. Omar Abdullah, Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Mr. Chaman Lal Gupta, Mr. Ved Prakash Goel and Mr. O. Rajagopal. From the allies only Mr. Nitish Kumar and Mr. Omar Abdullah (National Conference) could attend the meeting as other leaders were said to be out of Delhi. From the BJP, Mr. Sunil Shastri, Mr. Vijay Kumar Malhotra, and Mr. Kirti Azad, attended the meeting.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Front Page
Previous : Pak. denies copter crash
Next     : Probe into Malegaon riots