Govt to constitute advisory board before invoking NSA

Panaji: The home department has decided to constitute an advisory board, headed by a sitting or retired high court judge, before issuing the notification to invoke the National Security Act (NSA).A senior govt official said that a three-member advisory board is an appellate authority, and before the NSA is invoked in the state, it has to be constituted. “We have moved a file for govt approval to constitute an advisory board.”“Once the detention order is passed, then within a particular period, the person has to be produced before the advisory board, and without constituting the advisory, it would not be correct to invoke the NSA,” a senior govt officer said.Goa govt has decided to invoke the NSA to crack down on anti-social elements in the state. Under this law, police can detain a person for up to 12 months.Goa police said that since Aug 1, many offenders have been taken into custody under preventive arrest sections and produced before the sub-divisional magistrate, “but these measures are proving insufficient to neutralise repeat offenders and organised elements, who are likely to act in a manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order”.

Chief minister Pramod Sawant directed Goa police to move a formal request to issue a notification to invoke the NSA. Under this notification, collectors are empowered to hear and decide cases reported to them by police to invoke the law against anti-social elements.