Strengthen laws dealing with internal security: Modi

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said there was need to strengthen laws dealing with the country's internal security.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said there was need to strengthen laws dealing with the country's internal security.

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While addressing the chief ministers' conference on internal security convened by the government in New Delhi, Modi said internal security threatened by organised crime and terrorism needed to be confronted with a strong resolve which should not be limited to physically strengthening the law enforcement mechanism.

"Our policy decisions and laws to deal with such issues should have enough teeth. The biggest issue concerning internal security, to my mind, is lack of adequate legal provisions to support our efforts," he said.

Modi's remarks came in the backdrop of the central government's refusal to give its nod to the president to sign the controversial Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Bill passed by the state assembly.

The chief minister has on earlier occasions criticised the central government for opposing certain provisions in the bill, saying they were similar to the existing laws in Maharashtra and Karnataka. The central government had suggested some amendments to the bill.

In his speech, Modi referred to the dossiers sent to Pakistan on the involvement of "people and state agencies" in the Nov 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

"It is important that not only are we strong but are also perceived to be strong by subversive elements within and outside India," he said.

He said that the National Investigation Agency Act had powers of taking over investigation in FICN (Fake Indian Currency Note) offences and there was no need for asking the state governments to give general consent for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into such crimes.

"Did the government try to look at the track record of CBI in investigating offences which it is seized with?" he said.

Modi said the agenda for the conference did not include action taken on deliberations of previous meetings. He said his government was committed to building a mechanism to ensure that all criminal cases in the state were disposed off within 12 months.