In an announcement likely to trigger another round of debate over Centre-state power-sharing, Union Home Minister Amit Shah today announced expansion of the National Investigation Agency.
The central agency that probes terror-related cases will have offices in all states by 2024 — moving beyond four metro cities where it has hubs at present — as per his announcement. He said this at the inaugural session of a ‘Chintan Shivir' — Discussion Camp — of home ministers of all states organised by the Centre at Haryana's Surajkund, near Delhi.
Law and order, essentially, is a state subject. But the NIA, formed in 2008 and given more powers in 2019, has “extra-territorial powers”, Mr Shah said. This means it can probe crimes that take place anywhere in India, or even acts abroad that have implications here, and does not need mandatory permission from states.
Ongoing friction over federal jurisdiction is among reasons why the two-day Chintan Shivir is already seeing at least four non-BJP chief ministers, who hold charge of their Home departments, choosing to give it a miss.
States, particularly those ruled by non-BJP parties, have been alleging that Narendra Modi's government uses central agencies such as the CBI and ED for political point-scoring, or to harass leaders into switching over to the BJP. The BJP has maintained that the agencies are only “doing their job to counter corruption”.
The NIA can directly take over cases filed under laws listed in its Schedule, such as those related to explosives, hijacking, weapons of mass destruction and IT, besides the stringent — and controversial — Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA.
Amit Shah acknowledged that "in our Constitution, law and order is a state subject”, but added, “We can be successful against trans-border or borderless crimes only when all states sit together to ponder over them, make a common strategy and (make) efforts to curb them.”
Those not attending the meet include Trinamool Congress's Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), JDU's Nitish Kumar (Bihar), and DMK's MK Stalin (Tamil Nadu) — all of whom have been pitching for a joint Opposition to unseat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls — besides the BJD's Naveen Patnaik (Odisha);
Some have sent officers instead.
Only two non-BJP chief ministers — AAP's Bhagwant Mann from Punjab, and CPM's Pinarayi Vijayan from Kerala — are at the conference chaired by Amit Shah.
Some other non-BJP states are being represented by ministers.
BJP's Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana), Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh) and Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam) are among those present. Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit, as administrator of Chandigarh UT, is there too.
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