The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice on a public interest litigation challenging the validity of the 2008 National Investigation Agency Act, Live Law reported.
The Act set up the National Investigation Agency in 2008 and contains a list of scheduled offences that it has the power to investigate. Under the legislation, state governments forward all cases relating to these scheduled offences to the Centre, which then determines whether the NIA should investigate them.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta sought responses from the Centre, the NIA and others on the petition that described the Act as arbitrary, lacking in legislative competence and an encroachment on state power.
The petition against the NIA Act was filed by an advocate based in Kerala who had been booked in connection with the activities of the banned organisation Popular Front of India. The NIA had filed the first information report in 2022 under sections of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Arms Act on the orders of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
The petitioner was arrested in relation to the case and had been in custody for a year before being granted bail by the Kerala High Court, Live Law reported.
The petition also referred to a another case filed by the Kerala Police in 2022 about the killing of a Bharatiya Janata Party member allegedly by PFI members. While proceedings were pending in the matter, the Centre passed an order under the NIA Act asking the central agency to take up the investigation.
The petitioner challenged the invocation of Section 6(5) read with Section 8 of the NIA Act by the central agency and the investigation of a case already being looked into the state police, Live Law reported.
Section 6(5) of the NIA Act empowers the Centre to direct the central agency to investigate a scheduled offence if it believes such an offence has been committed, overriding the requirement for a state recommendation. Section 8 allows it to investigate any non-scheduled offence if it is connected to a scheduled offence (terror-related or serious crime) under investigation.
Noting that the police is a state subject under Schedule 7 of the Constitution, the petitioner added that it also has the power to investigate offences under the Code of Criminal Procedure, according to the legal news portal.
Urging the Supreme Court to set aside the NIA Act as unconstitutional, the petitioner sought a direction for the Centre to frame appropriate rules and guidelines for the exercise of powers under the Act.
Just 0.2% of readers pay for news. The others don’t care if it dies. You can help make a difference. Support independent journalism – join Scroll now.
We’re not driven by clicks or corporate interests – just honest, independent reporting. Keep us going. Support Scroll today!