Home Ministry forms 3-judge panel to review cases under NSA

New Delhi, March 19

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a notification constituting an advisory board consisting of three judges of the Delhi High Court to review the cases registered under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) that allows police to detain a person up to a year without a chargesheet.

Confirming the development, officials in the MHA said as per the law such an advisory board is constituted under Section 9 of the NSA, 1980.

Constituted under Sec 9 of security Act

• An advisory board is constituted under Section 9 of the National Security Act, 1980
• Justice Yogesh Khanna will be the chairman of the advisory board, while Justices Chandra Dhari Singh and Rajnish Bhatnagar will be members of the high-powered advisory board
• The detainee can appeal only before the advisory board for relief, but will not be allowed a lawyer during the hearing

Quoting the official notification, the officials said Justice Yogesh Khanna would be the chairman of the advisory board, while Justices Chandra Dhari Singh and Rajnish Bhatnagar would be members of the high-powered advisory board.

Under the said law, the government is empowered to detain a person if it considers the individual a threat to national security or to prevent him or her from disrupting public order. It provides that a person can be detained for up to 12 months without a chargesheet and the detained person can be kept under custody for 10 days without being told the charges against him or her.

The detainee can appeal only before the advisory board for relief, but will not be allowed a lawyer during the hearing. In the case of every NSA detainee, the government concerned shall, within three weeks from the date of detention, place before the advisory board the grounds on which the order has been made and the representation, if any, made by the detainee.

The advisory board shall, after considering the materials placed before it and after hearing the detainee, submit its report to the government within seven weeks from the date of detention of the person concerned.

The report of the board shall specify as to whether or not there is sufficient cause for the detention. In cases where the advisory board has reported that there is, in its opinion, sufficient cause for the detention of the person concerned, the government may confirm the detention order and continue the detention for such period as it thinks fit.

In cases where the board has reported that there is no sufficient cause for the detention, the government shall revoke the detention order and the detainee to be released forthwith.