Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA)
Context:
- Recently AFSPA has been extended for six more months in Manipur due to which unrest has been increasing.
About AFSPA:
- Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act(AFSPA), 1958 is an act of the Parliament of India that grants special powers to the Indian Armed Forces to maintain public order in “disturbed areas”.
- According to the Disturbed Areas (Special Courts) Act, 1976 once declared ‘disturbed’, the area has to maintain status quo for a minimum of 3 months.
- The Armed Forces Special Powers Ordinance of 1942 was promulgated by the British colonial government on 15 August 1942 to suppress the Quit India Movement.
Promulgation:
The Articles in the Constitution of India empower state governments to declare a state of emergency due to one or more of the following reasons:
- Failure of the administration and the local police to tackle local issues
- Return of (central) security forces leads to return of miscreants/erosion of the “peace dividend”
- The scale of unrest or instability in the state is too large for local forces to handle
- In such cases, it is the prerogative of the state government to call for central help.
- In most cases, for example during elections, when the local police may be stretched too thin to simultaneously handle day-to-day tasks, the central government obliges by sending in the BSF and the CRPF.
- Such cases do not comeunder the purview of AFSPA.
- AFSPA is confined to be enacted only when a state, or part of it, is declared a ‘disturbed area’.
- Continued unrest, like in the cases of militancy and insurgency, and especially when borders are threatened, are situations where AFSPA is resorted to.
- By Act 7 of 1972, the power to declare areas as being disturbed was extended to the central government.
According to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), in an area that is proclaimed as “disturbed”, an officer of the armed forces has powers to:
- After giving such due warning, Fire upon or use other kinds of force even if it causes death, against the person who is acting against law or order in the disturbed area for the maintenance of public order,
- Destroy any arms dump, hide-outs, prepared or fortified position or shelter or training camp from which armed attacks are made by the armed volunteers or armed gangs or absconders wanted for any offence.
- To arrest without a warrant anyone who has committed cognizable offences or is reasonably suspected of having done so and may use force if needed for the arrest.
- To enter and search any premise in order to make such arrests, or to recover any person wrongfully restrained or any arms, ammunition or explosive substances and seize it.
- Stop and search any vehicle or vessel reasonably suspected to be carrying such person or weapons.
- Any person arrested and taken into custody under this act shall be made present over to the officer in charge of the nearest police station with least possible delay, together with a report of the circumstances occasioning the arrest.
- Army officers have legal immunity for their actions. There can be no prosecution, suit or any other legal proceeding against anyone acting under that law.
- Nor is the government’s judgment on why an area is found to be disturbed subject to judicial review.
- Protection of persons acting in good faith under this act from prosecution, suit or other legal proceedings, except with the sanction of the Central Government, in exercise of the powers conferred by this act.
Syllabus: Prelims
