New Delhi/Srinagar : Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra stirred a hornet’s nest with his statement that Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), the state’s criminal law, should be brought under purview of the NIA act that could give extraordinary powers to the central probe agency to take over any terror case.
In the reaction, the state’s opposition parties–National Conference (NC) and CPM -did not favour Vohra’s suggestion and said any such move should not be allowed while ruling PDP, an alliance partner of BJP, said it would react after studying the statement of the Governor. In his address at the 7th foundation day of the NIA on Tuesday, Vohra said the Union Home Ministry should take urgent steps to ensure that NIA’s legal framework is suitably modified to enable effective investigations in terror cases. “The existing Schedule to the NIA Act also requires to be reviewed for enlarging the list of offences to particularly cover those under the Ranbir Penal Code, Arms Act, NDPS Act, Explosive Substances Act and Cyber Terrorism offences, among others,” he said. Inclusion of RPC, which is a substitute to Indian Penal Code(IPC) in J&K, means that National Investigation Agency (NIA) can take over any case registered under anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act as well as RPC. Both PDP and NC have been opposing giving sweeping powers to NIA to take suo motu cognisance of terror-related cases in the state.-PTI
