TADA came into being during the years of Punjab militancy; POTA came up in the wake of Parliamentary attack in 2001; genesis of such laws lies in knee jerk reaction of state to tackle deteriorating internal security situation by giving extraordinary powers to state agencies.
However both TADA & POTA are believed to be failed experiments because:
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Were too draconian; allowed confessions secured in custody of state agencies to be taken as evidences in court of law; thus legitimizing custodial torture.
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Enabled state agencies to sidestep rigorous investigation; allows accused to be kept in custody for an extended length of time; resort to brutalities & threats to accused & their families to make accused confess crimes.
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Evoked by state agencies in an arbitrary manner; in all sorts of cases; most of times the persons accused have been found to be innocent by courts.
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Gives an aura of invincibility to state agencies such as Police; encouraging them to act irresponsibly and often in biased & per-conceived notions.
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Often evoked by state executive to fulfil political vendetta; Vaiko, Tamil politician & Raghuraj Pratap Singh were arrested under POTA.
To curb terrorism & enhance internal security, at the institutional level focus should be on:
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Better training & resources for our investigative agencies;
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Ensuring coordination between various agencies to fight terror and extremism.
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Due respect to civil liberties by state agencies; encourage working of investigative agencies under comprehensive CrPC.
Both, the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), were considered as failed experiments that led to gross abuse. Critically examine why. (200 Words)