Govt plans anti-terror law, says law minister

We will enact a law to deal with the situation prevailing in the country. We will have a law, which will specifically deal with terrorist activities, says Law Minister HR Bhardwaj, reports Satya Prakash. See graphicsSpecial coverage

The government on Saturday said that it would bring in a new law to deal with terrorism in an effective manner.

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“We will enact a law to deal with the situation prevailing in the country. We will have a law, which will specifically deal with terrorist activities,” said Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj at an international conference of jurists on terrorism and human rights.

“The government will very soon decide the contents of that law,” he said in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan.

Asked if the new law will be introduced in the current session of Parliament, the law minister said it was pending with the Home Ministry and the cabinet was yet to clear it.

He mentioned how countries like the US and the UK have strengthened their terror laws.

Stating that anti-terror laws such as TADA and POTA had been abolished, Bhardwaj said time had come for a “really very effective” legislation to combat terrorism in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks. However, any such law would not in any way infringe on Article 21 (Right to Liberty). “The law will be there with reasonable restrictions,” he added.

In his address, Chief Justice Balakrishnan sounded a note of caution against curtailment of civil rights, saying care must be taken to ensure that new laws do not trample upon the fundamental rights of the citizens.

“While the ultimate choice in this regard lies with the legislature, we must be careful not to trample upon Constitutional principles such as ‘substantive due process’,” he said.