National Investigation Agency Act, 2008

Published on 08 Feb 2025

The National Investigation Agency Act (NIA Act) was enacted in 2008 to constitute an investigation agency at the national level to investigate and prosecute offences affecting the sovereignty, security and security of India.

Major provisions of NIA Act, 2008

• Establishment of NIA: The act establishes NIA as the central agency responsible for investigating and prosecuting offences related to terrorism, counterfeit currency, and other unlawful activities.

• Cases investigated by NIA

• Offence affecting India’s sovereignty, security and integrity of India, security of state and friendly relation with foreign states.

• Offence against atomic and nuclear facilities.

• Smuggling in high quality counterfeit Indian currency.

• The 2019 amendment widened the scope to include human trafficking case, cases involving sale of prohibited arms and cyber terrorism.

• Powers of NIA

• Wide ranging powers to search, seize, arrest and examine witnesses. They can arrest a person without warrant, but he must be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours.

• The act empowers NIA the power to confiscate property of those involved in unlawful activities.

• Can deal with terror related crimes across the state without the permission of the state.

• Jurisdiction: Originally, NIA has powers to investigate offences within India, but the 2019 amendment has empowered them to investigate offences committed outside India, subject to international treaties and domestic laws of other countries.

• Special court: The act provides for constituting an NIA court for the trial of offences under NIA Act.

Significance of the legislation

• Neutralizing extremists networks: The NIA is in charge of investigating cases related to the radicalization of individuals by extremists groups and curb their activities.

• Example: In 2022 the NIA court convicted Kashmiri separatist leader in cases related to terrorism.

• Combat money laundering and terror financing: NIA tracks the flow of funds to unlawful organizations and uncover the financial network of these organizations.

• Example: Zahoor Watali was arrested by the NIA for his alleged involvement in a terror funding case in Jammu and Kashmir.

• Counter-insurgency operation: The NIA identifies insurgent groups which threaten the integrity of the nation with the act having provisions to curb their influence.

• Example: Arrest of Bhavesh Patel by India who threatened internal security by carrying out Ajmer blast.

• Faster trials: The act establishes a specialized court for dealing with NIA cases which ensures timely dispensation of justice.

• Extradition and diplomatic efforts: The act empowers NIA to work in cooperation with other countries to build cases against individuals involved in transnational crimes.

• Example: Arrest of Areeb Maeed who travelled to Iran to join ISIS.

Concerns with the legislation

• Potential for misuse: The provisions of the act gives overarching powers to NIA which could be manipulated to target political opponents and critics.

• Example: The arrest of Anand Teltumbde by NIA over the Bhima Koregoan issue.

• Curbing civil liberty: The broad provisions of the act are often misinterpreted to stifle liberty of citizens.

• Example: NIA sending notices and summons to leaders of the farmer protest.

• Against federal principle: The act enables NIA powers to investigate in the state without the permission from state government which goes against the federal interest and they often get into state police jurisdictions causing confusions.

• Example:  Bhima Koregoan which was at an advanced stage of investigation by the state police was transferred under Section 6(5) of the NIA Act.

• Lack of transparency: The NIA operations and procedures are less transparent to the public leading to a sense of mistrust among them.

• Target minority: These security related legislations are generally used as a weapon against the interest of the minority.

• Example: In 2019, the NIA registered cases against several individuals alleged to be associated with Mujahideen which has been criticized as an attempt against minorities.

Way forward

Thus, the NIA Act,2008 has been instrumental in addressing the terrorist activities and other insurgencies which could have threatened India’s security but potential for misuse must be limited by facilitating better access to justice and better protection of rights while being in custody. The power of the agency must be defined and should respect the federal provisions of the land.

Tags:
Security

Keywords:
NIA Criminal Justice Terrorism

Syllabus:
General Studies Paper 3

Topics:
Internal Security