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Cabinet decides to re-promulgate POTO

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The Union Cabinet on Saturday decided to re-promulgate the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance by making certain amendments to the controversial provisions.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan announced this after a 90-minute meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Mahajan pointed out that it approved re-promulgation of POTO with the following modifications:

(a) Legislation shall now remain in force for a period of three years instead of five from the date of its commencement.

(b) Sub-clause (8) of clause 3, which provides for punishment of a person who possesses information which he knows or believes to be of material assistance in preventing the commission of terrorist act and fails to disclose that information to be police, has been omitted.

(c) Clause 7 has been notified to delete reference to special courts, thus doing away with concurrent jurisdiction of the designated authority and the special courts to provide for an appeal against the order made by the designated authority to the special court.

(d) Clause 8 has been modified to vest power of forfeiture of the proceeds of terrorism in the special court instead of designated authority.

(e) Sub-clause (3) of clause 47 of the bill provides for laying down of an annual interception report by the central government before each house of Parliament. In clause 62 of the bill, similar provision has been made for the orders and rules also.

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