Ahead of NCTC meet, Centre sends draft SOPs to all CMs

New Delhi: Faced with stiff opposition from several chief ministers, including UPA ally Mamata Banerjee, the Centre has circulated to all chief ministers the draft Standard Operating Procedures of proposed NCTC ahead of the 5 May crucial meeting here on the controversial issue. In its efforts to evolve a consensus on NCTC, the Home Ministry has sent the draft SOPs listing powers and functions of the anti-terror hub’s Standing Council, which will have representatives of all state governments and the Centre. The Centre also framed SOPs for exercise of power under section 3.1 and 3.2 of the office memorandum issued listing organisation, functions, powers and duties of National Counter Terrorism Centre. [caption id=“attachment_291373” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“PTI”]  [/caption] Section 3.1 states the Director of NCTC shall be specified as the designated authority under section 2(e) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Section 3.2 says officers of the operations division of NCTC shall have the power to arrest and the power to search under section 43A of the UA(P)A. Both these two sections were vehemently opposed by the non-Congress chief ministers: Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik, Tamil Nadu’s J Jayalalitha, Gujarat’s Narendra Modi, West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee and Bihar’s Nitish Kumar besides others. They alleged that by vesting such powers on NCTC, the Centre  was trying to hurt the federal structure of the country and curb states’ powers. The Home Ministry also circulated the agenda papers for the 5 May specially-convened meeting where it would explain the genesis, objectives, structure and powers of the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre. PTI