New Delhi: Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, in a routine order issued every quarter, has granted power of detaining authority to the Delhi Police Commissioner under the National Security Act. The stringent Act allows preventive detention of an individual for up to a year if authorities feel that the individual is a threat to the national security, and law and order.
Let’s not panic.
This is a routine order issued once in every four months delegating power to the police chief to make detentions under NSA.
Not just in Delhi, similar orders are issued by every state Govt once in three / four months. https://t.co/zTXyw2HSFK— Arvind Gunasekar (@arvindgunasekar) January 17, 2020
“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (3) of section 3, read with clause (c) of Section 2 of the National Security Act, 1980, the Lt Governor pleased to direct that during the period January 19 to April 18, the Delhi Police Commissioner may also exercise the powers of detaining authority under sub-section (2) of the section 3 of the aforesaid Act,” the notification stated.
The notification has been issued on January 10 following the approval of the LG. Andhra Pradesh also issued a similar order on January 14, renewing powers granted for three more months.
The Delhi Police also said it is a routine order that has been issued every quarter and has nothing to do with the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
(With PTI inputs)