Agencies
New Delhi, Dec 17: Parliament on Wednesday opened the debate on tougher anti-terrorism laws and a plan to set up an FBI-style agency designed to plug gaping security holes exposed by last month's Mumbai attacks.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said in the Lok Sabha that government has sought to make a "fair balance" of respect for fundamental rights and the demand of the people for tough provisions while bringing forward two legislations to fight terror effectively.
Moving the National Investigating Agency (NIA) Bill and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendments Bills for consideration in the House, he appealed to the members to pass the bills unanimously and promised to rectify defects in the legislation, if any, in the next session in February.
"We will do our best to satisfy your aspirations. Let us pass these two bills," he said in a brief speech commending for consideration the two bills, which were introduced in the House yesterday.
Dealing with some of the provisions of the bill, he said notwithstanding the constitution of the NIA it would still respect the state government's right to investigate cases and would even associate them in such investigation.
"We have struck a balance between right of the Central government and the state governments to decide on investigation," the minister said.
In the UAPA bill, he said even while making tough provisions the Courts have been given the powers to decide on the prosecution's case in the matter of bail and presumption of guilt on the accused in some specific cases.
Home Minister P Chidambaram had introduced the two draft legislations in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The legislation includes provisions allowing police to hold suspects for up to 180 days, rather than the current 90 days, and allows for a financial clampdown on suspects.
Last week, making a statement in the Lok Sabha on the Mumbai attacks, Chidambaram had members to pass the bills to tone up the security and prosecution apparatus in this session itself.
The current session will conclude on December 23.