The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the Centre’s response on a petition challenging the validity of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act for violating the federal structure and distribution of powers between the central state under the Constitution.
The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Kerala-based lawyer Muhammad Mubarak Ali who is also an accused in a case investigated by the NIA over the alleged illegal activities of the banned outfit Popular Front of India (PFI).
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The petition has questioned the arbitrary nature of the provisions in the 2008 law allowing the NIA to take over any case already investigated by the state police under Section 8 which allows the NIA to take over a case “in connection with” any crime listed under investigation. Moreover, the NIA does not require state government approval unlike the advance sanction procedure followed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
“The NIA Act creates an unbridled parallel national policing structure that encroaches on the exclusive domain of the state,” the petition said.
“We will hear the matter,” a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said and issued notice to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to file a response within four weeks. The matter will be heard on July 14. Senior Advocate Siddharth Dev appeared for the petitioner along with Advocate Vishnu B.
