Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002

The Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA) was an <a href="/facts/Act_of_Parliament/aaxV1HXy">Act</a> passed by the <a href="/facts/Parliament_of_India/5BUcWtwn">Parliament of India</a> by Atal Bihari Bajpayee government in 2002, with the objective of strengthening <a href="/facts/Anti-terrorism/XSzTcfND">anti-terrorism</a> operations. The Act was enacted due to several terrorist attacks that were being carried out in India and especially in response to the attack on the <a href="/facts/2001_Indian_Parliament_attack/XA0KreS4">Parliament</a>. The Act replaced the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) of 2001 and the <a href="/facts/Terrorist_and_Disruptive_Activities_(Prevention)_Act/oTA8Cedb">Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act</a> (TADA) (1985–1995), and was supported by the governing <a href="/facts/National_Democratic_Alliance_(India)/2rfueY97">National Democratic Alliance</a>. The Act was <a href="/facts/Repeal/5GeozxIM">repealed</a> in 2004 by the <a href="/facts/United_Progressive_Alliance/rfu0f82f">United Progressive Alliance</a> coalition.
The bill was defeated in the <a href="/facts/Rajya_Sabha/LErgsq94">Rajya Sabha</a> (the upper house) by a 113–98 vote, but was passed in a <a href="/facts/Joint_session/ewtXSoN5">joint session</a> (425 Ayes and 296 Noes), as the <a href="/facts/Lok_Sabha/mEYv4Tkz">Lok Sabha</a> (lower house) has more seats. It was only the third time that a bill was passed by a <a href="/facts/Joint_session/ewtXSoN5">joint session</a> of both houses of Indian Parliament.
The Act defined what constituted a "terrorist act" and who a "terrorist" was, and granted special powers to the investigating authorities described under the Act. In order to ensure that discretionary powers granted to the investigating agencies were not misused and human rights violations were not committed, specific safeguards were built into the Act.

Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 open-in-new

Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002