Axe Some Acts – As long as central, state laws on preventive detention exist, their abuse is almost inevitable

Source: The post is based on the article “Axe Some Acts – As long as central, state laws on preventive detention exist, their abuse is almost inevitable” published in The Times of India on 13th April 2023.

Syllabus: GS – 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Relevance: About preventive detention laws.

News: Recently, two separate cases in the Supreme Court have highlighted the issues with preventive detention laws.

What is Preventive Detention?

At the central level, they have existed in different forms from 1950.

What are the observations of SC on preventive detention laws?

Case 1: The court criticised the UP government for inappropriately invoking the National Security Act in a case with political undertones.

Case 2: In Pramod Singla vs UoI case, the court pointed out that India’s preventive detention laws are a colonial legacy with the potential to be misused.

About the cases under preventive detention laws

Government data in 2021 shows that preventive detention cases increased by almost 24% to 1. 1 lakh. For instance, between 2017 and 2021, annual detentions under the National Security Act ranged between 483 and 741.

States, which have their own preventive detention laws, are among the worst offenders. For example, last year, Madras HC criticised Tamil Nadu for indiscriminate use of the Goondas Act to trigger preventive detentions.

What are the issues associated with preventive detention laws?

The root of the problem is both the intent and wording of laws. As these laws provide a broad reading of circumstances under which constitutional rights can be suppressed.

This has been the case since 1950. A recent example is the IT Rules 2021 and its amendments that can open the door to action against views deemed officially “unfavourable”.

This can be interpreted that as long as preventive detention laws are part of the statute, there is a higher chance of abuse.