- As humankind keeps surging ahead on the back of mindblowing technological advancements, the resultant improvements in living standards should be equally represented by sound law and order machinery that aids citizens rather than act as an impediment. Although it may sound cliche, all developments should be supported by considerate, sane, and humane policies. What good are measures, programs, and regulations that restrict people’s freedom of speech, expression, movement, and choice, after all? Particularly in a democracy like India, where the legislature, the executive branch, and the judiciary must protect constitutionally protected rights at any cost.
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Now, India’s history is replete with invaders, conquistadors, and colonialists who left behind certain imprints courtesy of centuries of ruling. Thus, several British-era laws that are anachronistic continue to stay relevant in a changed world where developments, advancements, and improvements are unimaginable and in tune with modern-day technological pursuits. Therefore, it is desirable to immediately repeal any laws that don’t fit with the times. The responsibility for making the government as citizen-friendly as possible falls on the people’s representatives. The current administration has undoubtedly repealed thousands of antiquated laws that are not just leftovers from the colonial past but are also utterly out of date. Nonetheless, more work has to be done.
- And then there are draconian laws too that are equally fit to be relegated to dustbins. Against this backdrop, two separate cases in the SC this week highlighted the abuse of India’s web of preventive detention laws that confer the executive with extraordinary powers. In one case, SC ticked off the UP government for inappropriately invoking the National Security Act in a case with political undertones. In another case (PramodSingla vs UoI), the bench pointed out that India’s preventive detention laws are a colonial legacy with the potential to be misused. Preventive detention laws are used in anticipation of a crime. At the central level, they have existed in different forms since 1950, with the draconian NSA introduced over four decades ago.
PC: freepik
- Remember that the number of detentions per year under the NSA varied from 483 to 741 between 2017 and 2021. Remember that the SC has ruled that laws that permit arbitrary detention of individuals ought to only be applied in the direst situations. Additionally, courts must grant the detainee every benefit of the doubt because the case is around a possible crime. This fundamental rule is not often enough upheld. The abuse of preventative detention regulations unavoidably has political overtones given the politicking of the police. Preventive detention laws are frequently employed in situations that are primarily the result of political disagreements due to their colonial heritage. The colonial legacy of preventive detention laws means they are often used in cases catalyzed mainly by political differences. Therefore, reading down some of the most egregious webs of preventive detention becomes imperative. The authorities should act accordingly.
