Arunachal Pradesh Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (APUAPA)
Context:
- A legislation enacted in Arunachal Pradesh in 2014, the Arunachal Pradesh Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (APUAPA), is currently under the scanner, with civil society organisations demanding its repeal and a petition challenging it before the Itanagar bench of the Gauhati High Court.
What is the APUAPA?
- The APUAPA was notified in 2014 “to provide for more effective prevention of certain unlawful activities of individuals and associations.”
- It enables the state government or any official not below the rank of a Secretary to the State Government or a District Magistrate to make on order for detaining certain categories of people.
- The objective is to prevent them from “acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of the State, or maintenance of public order or maintenance of daily supplies and services essential to the public”.
- These categories of people include “any person who is bootlegger, habitual depredator of environment, habitual drug offender, property grabber, dangerous persons, unlawful persons associated with unlawful activities”.
- The Act defines public order as having been affected adversely as “directly or indirectly causing or is likely to cause any harm, danger or alarm or feeling of insecurity among the general public or any section thereof or a grave or widespread danger to life, property or public health.”
- Within three weeks of detention, the matter is to be placed before an advisory board which will give its opinion on whether there is sufficient cause for detention of an individual.
- If its opinion is that there is sufficient cause, a person can be detained for up to six months under the act.
Syllabus : Prelims + Mains; GS II – Governance
