Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was passed on September 11, 1958 by the Parliament of India.

It was passed to enable certain special powers to be conferred upon the armed forces in disturbed areas in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.

It was withdrawn by the Manipur government in some of the constituencies in August 2004 in spite of the Central government not favouring withdrawal of the act.

According to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), in an area that is proclaimed as “disturbed”, an officer of the armed forces has powers to: (a) fire upon or use other kinds of force even if it causes death; (b) to arrest without a warrant and with the use of “necessary” force anyone who has committed certain offences or is suspected of having done so; and (c) to enter and search any premise in order to make such arrests. Army officers have legal immunity for their actions. There can be no prosecution, suit or any other legal proceeding against anyone acting under that law. Nor is the government’s judgment on why an area is found to be disturbed subject to judicial review.

In December 2006, responding to what he said were 'legitimate' grievances of the people of Manipur, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared that the Act would be amended to ensure it was 'humane' on the basis of the Jeevan Reddy Commission's report, which is believed to have recommended the Act's repeal. [ [http://www.telegraphindia.com/1061203/asp/frontpage/story_7085101.asp “ Humane garb for ‘black law’” ] The Telegragh, Dec 3 2006, retrieved September 11, 2008 ] The Act has been employed in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir since 1990 [ [http://mha.nic.in/pdfs/Armed%20forces%20_J&K_%20Spl.%20powers%20act,%201990.pdf “(PDF) The Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990”] Indian Ministry of Law and Justice Published by the Authority of New Deli ] and has been criticized by Human Rights Watch as a “tool of state abuse, oppression and discrimination”. [ [http://www.cfr.org/publication/17155/crisis_in_kashmir.html “Crisis in Kashmir”] Council on Foreign Relations retrieved September 11, 2008 ]

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.hrdc.net/sahrdc/resources/armed_forces.htm Coverage on website of South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre]
* [http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/aug/12mani1.htm "Armed Forces Act to go from Imphal"] - rediff.com article dated August 12, 2004