India: Information on whether any arrest warrants have been issued under TADA since it was allowed to lapse in May 1995
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 November 1996 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | IND24825.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, India: Information on whether any arrest warrants have been issued under TADA since it was allowed to lapse in May 1995, 1 November 1996, IND24825.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab2c74.html [accessed 30 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
A professor specializing on the Sikhs in Punjab who teaches at the Department of Political Science at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, and who just returned from India, stated in a 16 August 1996 telephone interview that, in the current climate of decreasing violence in Punjab, an arrest would not be made under the provisions of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act (TADA). The professor stated that other emergency measures could be invoked to arrest and interrogate people under suspicion. Although nobody has been arrested under TADA since May 1995, many people are still being detained under the provisions of this act.
A professor of anthropology at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine, who specializes on the Sikhs in Punjab, stated on a 3 September 1996 that it is still possible for a person to be booked under TADA provisions if the alleged crime was committed before May 1995.
Human Rights in Developing Countries Yearbook 1996 states that "while TADA expired in May 1995, many of its provisions with regard to arrest, detention, fair trial and the right to freedom of expression were proposed to be included in the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 1995 presented to Parliament on 18 May 1995." (1996, 277). Please find attached an August 1995 open letter from Amnesty International expressing concerns about the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 1995.
A lawyer from India who has appeared as an expert witness before the Immigration and Refugee Board stated during a 1 September 1995 conference call that although no arrest were made under TADA after May 1995, people who were already detained under its provisions remained in detention and their cases were still being tried under the Act (1 Sept. 1995, 12). Further information on the above-mentioned topic could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Immigration and Refugee Board, Calgary. 1 September 1995. Conference Call with Navkiran Singh, B.A., LL.B. (Transcript)
Human Rights in Developing Countries Yearbook 1996. 1996. Edited by Peter Baehr et al. The Hague: Kluwer Law International.
Professor of anthropology at the University of Maine, Orono. 27 August 1996. Telephone interview.
Professor of political science at University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri.16 August 1996. Telephone interview.
Attachments
Amnesty International. August 1995. India: Open Letter to Members of Parliament: The Criminal Law amemdment Bill 1995.(AI Index: ASA 20/20/95). London: International Secretariat.
Conference Call with Navkiran Singh, B.A., LL.B. 1 September 1995. Calgary: International Rose Reporting Inc., pp. 2, 12-16.
Human Rights in Developing Countries Yearbook 1996. 1996. Edited by Peter Baehr et al. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, p. 277.
Additional Sources Consulted
Amnesty International. Amnesty International Report. Yearly.
Amnesty International periodical reports and press releases.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1995. 1996.
