Even as non-Congress Chief Ministers are up in arms against the Centre's move to set up the National Centre for Counter-Terrorism (NCTC) on the grounds that it infringes upon the powers of the States, Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday wrote to 10 Chief Ministers assuring them that “the intention of the Central government is to continue to work with the State governments in order to meet the challenge of terrorism.''
“All of us are agreed that terrorism is a grave threat to our country and our way of life. Countering terrorism is, therefore, a shared responsibility,'' Mr. Chidambaram said in his letter. He wrote identical letters to the Chief Ministers of Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and West Bengal.
Incidentally, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee was the first to oppose the plan to set up the NCTC. A key ally of the UPA government, she met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier this week and demanded that the NCTC be put on hold. Other Chief Ministers have also written to the Prime Minister, opposing the counter-terror hub on the ground that it violated principles of federalism and encroached upon their turf. Seeking to allay their fears, the Prime Minister wrote to seven of them on Tuesday, assuring them that the Centre was committed to protecting the principles of federalism.
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Mr. Chidambaram said he had been asked by the Prime Minister to “address the concerns expressed by you and to consult with you on this matter which, I am sure, you will agree is a matter of national importance and should be kept above parties and politics.”
He told the Chief Ministers that “we had, working together, decided to amend the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in 2004 and in 2008.” He said the Home Secretary would call a meeting of the State police chiefs and the heads of the anti-terrorist organisation and forces of the State governments and discuss in detail the scope and functions of the NCTC.
Noting that he would be happy to respond to any further issues that the Chief Ministers might wish to raise, Mr. Chidambaram enclosed a three-page note on the “genesis, objectives, structure and powers of the NCTC.”
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One of his pet projects, he has been pursuing the NCTC since the November 26, 2008 terror attack in Mumbai. Most of the Chief Ministers, including those from the BJP and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, raised objections on the powers of the NCTC to arrest and to search under Section 43A of UA(P)A.
The Home Minister's enclosed note to the Chief Ministers describes these powers to search and arrest as “the bare minimum powers” that would be necessary for a body mandated to deal with counter-terrorism, which was true of all counter-terrorism bodies in the world. “It may be noted that the powers under Section 2 (e) and Section 43A are available to both the Central government and the State governments,” it said.
The note said that a law to deal with terrorism such as the UA(P)A was within the legislative competence of Parliament, and similar laws (TADA and POTA) have been upheld by the Supreme Court. Both Act 29 of 2004 and Act 35 of 2008 that amended the UA(P)A were passed by Parliament and there was no objection to either Section 2(e) or Section 43A.
It said all that the Central government had done in the February 3 office memorandum, notifying the setting up of the NCTC, was to “specify its duties and functions; to outline its structure; and to confer minimum powers that are required for a counter-terrorism body,” the note said.