National Security Act

• 19 Feb 2019

Why is it in News?

The National Security Act was invoked by the State Government of MP, not very long back in February 2018 against three men accused of killing a cow.

Origin of NSA:

• Preventive detention laws in India date back to early days of the colonial era when the Bengal Regulation III of 1818 was enacted to empower the government to arrest anyone for defense or maintenance of public order without giving the person recourse to judicial proceedings. A century later, the British government enacted the Rowlatt Acts of 1919 that allowed confinement of a suspect without trial.
• Post-independence India got its first preventive detention rule when the Government of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru enacted the Preventive Detention Act of 1950.

Provisions of NSA:

• The NSA empowers the Centre or a State government to detain a person to prevent him from acting in any manner prejudicial to national security.
• The government can also detain a person to prevent him from disrupting public order or for maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community.
• The maximum period for which one may be detained is 12 months but the term can be extended if the government finds fresh evidence.