Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019 was passed by the Parliament in August 2019. It amended the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
The Act empowers the central government to designate an individual a “terrorist” if they are found committing, preparing for, promoting, or involved in an act of terror.
The 1967 UAPA law required an investigating officer to take prior permission of the Director General of Police of a state for conducting raids, and seizing properties that are suspected to be linked to terrorist activities.
The amendment act removes this requirement if the investigation is conducted by an officer of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The investigating officer only requires sanction from the Director General of NIA.
The 1967 law specifies that only officers of the rank of Deputy Superintendent or Assistant Commissioner of Police of the NIA shall have the power to investigate offences under the UAPA law. The new act allows NIA officers of Inspector rank to carry out investigations.

According to the data provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), there has been over 72% increase in the number of persons arrested under the anti-terror law UAPA (Unlawful Activities [Prevention] Act) in 2019 compared to 2015,
As many as 1948 persons were arrested under the UAPA in 1226 cases registered across the country in 2019. Such cases registered in 2015-2018 stood at 897, 922, 901 and 1182 and the number of those arrested was 1128, 999, 1554 and 1421 respectively.
Under the UAPA, getting bail is rare and the investigating agency has up to 180 days to file a charge sheet.
Earlier, a reply by the government in the Lok Sabha shows that only 2.2 % of cases registered under the UAPA between 2016-2019 ended in convictions by court.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is a statutory body constituted under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008.
It is a central agency to investigate and prosecute offences:
- affecting the sovereignty, security and integrity of India, security of State, friendly relations with foreign States.
- against atomic and nuclear facilities.
- smuggling in High-Quality Counterfeit Indian Currency.
It implements international treaties, agreements, conventions and resolutions of the United Nations, its agencies and other international organisations.
It acts as the Central Counter-Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency.

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