6 CMs protest setting up of NCTC saying it’s against federalism as guaranteed by Constitution.
Union home minister P Chidambaram’s dream project for a super anti-terror intelligence agency, the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), for which he managed to get the cabinet nod after much trouble from his colleagues, is again in the eye of storm.
This time, the opposition has come on a larger scale: from chief ministers of six states, including key UPA constituent Mamata Banerjee, and on a much serious note — saying the move is against federalism as guaranteed by the Constitution.
As the day wore off, Naveen Patnaik of Odisha, Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, J Jayalalithaa of Tamil Nadu, Nitish Kumar of Bihar and Narendra Modi of Gujarat had made it clear that their states would not tolerate the NCTC, which is an infringement on their bona fide rights.
Banerjee, Patnaik, Jayalalithaa and Kumar have already written to prime minister Manmohan Singh expressing their angst for not even being consulted on this important matter that interferes directly with their domain. They have sought an explanation on Chidambaram’s “high-handed” approach and a review of the decision.
While Chidambaram chose to keep mum despite a query by DNA, Union home secretary RK Singh said the government is not passing any new law and there was no need to consult the states prior to notifying the NCTC.
“NCTC has been formed under existing sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) which has been in force for several years and we all have been operating under the Act,” Singh said.
A key point of disagreement is that for the first time, an intelligence/counter terrorism agency has been given powers to make arrests. Moreover, the law and order is strictly a state subject, which Chidambaram himself has pointed out several times.
The first to come on record on Friday was Patnaik who said he was shocked by the “new authoritarian notification with draconian overtones” about law and order, etc.
“A few days ago I wrote to Dr Manmohan Singh on this matter also drew the attention of my colleagues Mamata Banerjee and Jayalalithaa and also spoke to TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu,” Patnaik said.
In her letter, Banerjee asked the PM to “review and withdraw” the decision. Meanwhile, Jayalalithaa said the proposed body has provisions that tantamount to usurping the rights of the states.
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