STATEMENT ISSUED BY SHRI ARUN JAITLEY,
GENERAL SECRETARY, BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY

The Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh has called for the establishment of a federal agency to investigate terrorist crimes. It is ironical that after being in prime ministerial office for 4 years the Prime Minister has finally woken up to the harsh and cruel reality that prevention and investigation of terrorism in India is on the verge of collapse. The Prime Minister’s suggestion lacks bonafides on the following reasons :-

• Whenever in the past the Inter State Council and the Union Home Ministry had mooted this suggestion several State Governments predominantly the ones ruled by Congress, opposed the proposal.

• What is relevant is not merely who investigates the offence but also what is the content of the law under which the offence is investigated. The Prime Minister, his government and the Party have consistently opposed a strong anti terror law. Will not the federal agency be helpless in investigating terrorist crimes if confessions of terrorists are inadmissible evidence and an easy bail is available to the terrorists under normal law? What purpose would be achieved in merely changing the investigating agency, particularly when investigation and prevention of terrorism is to take place under a law which is not terrorist unfriendly ?

• Under Dr. Manmohan Singh and the UPA, can a federal agency be trusted? His government has a scandalous record of having misused the CBI, an investigative agency of the Central government for political purposes in the last 4 years. Systematically, cases against UPA leaders have been closed and the political opponents have been harassed by the CBI.

• Faced with a state of helplessness in view of the repeal of POTA, BJP ruled State Governments such as in Gujarat, Rajasthan and M.P. have enacted laws against organized crimes. These laws are almost identical to the POTA. Such laws exist and are operational in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Unfortunately, the Union Government has deliberately not given Presidential assent to the three BJP governments to operationalise the law. The effect of this is going to be that cases relating to the Bombay train blast and the Malegaon blasts will be investigated under MCOCA but when the accused are arrested in relation to the Jaipur serial blasts, they will be investigated under the ordinary law where easy bails will be available and confessions of the terrorists will not be admissible evidence. This crippling of the investigation in the Jaipur blasts is directly attributable to the political motivated withholding of Presidential assent by the UPA Government of Dr. Manmohan Singh.

• How can a government led by Dr. Manmohan Singh be trusted in investigation against terrorism when in relation to the burning of the Sabarmati Express it has appointed Committees under the Railways Act in order to help the accused who are prosecuted under POTA who set Sabarmati Express on fire. The Union Government led by Dr. Manmohan Singh has taken the plea before the Supreme Court that it is entitled to withdraw POTA cases against those who set the Sabarmati Express on fire without any judicial scrutiny.

• The entire track record of the Union Government starting from the repeal of POTA, not giving assent to POTA like laws in Rajasthan, M.P. and Gujarat, helping the accused being prosecuted under POTA for burning Sabarmati Express, non execution of the death sentence awarded to Afzal Guru in the Parliament attack case, raises a legitimate question whether a federal agency under Dr. Manmohan Singh government can really be trusted.

Dr.Manmohan Singh’s bonafides in the war against terror are a suspect. He has used his softness on terror for vote bank politics rather than for security considerations. He will have to cover a very long distance to re-establish his bonafides in this matter. It is obvious that one State alone cannot fight or investigate terrorism. Terrorism, particularly the cross border terrorism has not only inter state but also international ramifications. The Bharatiya Janata Party is willing to discuss the issue provided it involves not merely a change of investigative agency but also the content of law. Our anti terrorist laws will have to be made more effective and POTA will have to be re-introduced. But the questions that the Prime Minister will have to answer are –

1.Does his track record inspire confidence that he will implement his proposal for a federal agency against terror ?

2.Will the Prime Minister have a political courage to strengthen the content of India’s anti terrorist laws to make them more terrorist unfriendly?

3.Will the UPA and the Left be willing to support him ?

The jurisdiction to legislate against terrorism is already with the Central Government. The constitutional validity of TADA was challenged before the Supreme Court on the ground that the law and order and public order are State subjects and the Centre cannot legislate with regard to the same. The Supreme Court has categorically held that the war against terrorism includes the war against sovereignty and defence of India and therefore the legislation against terror falls in the domain of the Central government. The Central Government has the legislative and Executive power to introduce and to enact laws in this matter. What prevented the Prime Minister in the last 4 years from acting in the matter itself remains an obvious mystery. His government is not serious in fighting terrorism.