Delhi Police said that no specific request had been made in the context of the ongoing protests, and that the renewal was a routine administrative exercise.
NEW DELHI — The Delhi government has extended the Delhi Police’s power of preventive detention under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) till October 18 amid the ongoing protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party that have led to widespread allegations of abuse of police powers against young protesters, news agency PTI reported.
According to the notification issued on July 15 by the Delhi government’s home department, the city police commissioner has been granted the power of detention under Sub Section (2) of Section 3 of the NSA.
The power will be valid up to October 18, it said.
The Delhi Police said this is a “routine extension” of the power and it has been “interpreted out of context” in certain media reports that are claiming that the power has been granted to quell the CJP-led protest.
The NSA provides for the preventive detention of individuals in certain cases, which include “acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of the State or…the maintenance of Public order or…the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community”.
The detention period under the NSA ranges from three to 12 months.
Because it is preventive detention and not arrest, there is no legal obligation to present the detainee before a court of law.
A Delhi government officer said the power of detention under the NSA is extended routinely after every quarter and no specific request was made in the present context. This power has been delegated since the 1980s, he said.
The CJP began its protest at Jantar Mantar on June 20.
Delhi Police in a statement said that no specific request had been made in the context of the ongoing protests, and that the renewal was a routine administrative exercise. It said that the order should not be taken out of context. — With agency inputs
