Uttarakhand government imposes NSA till Dec 31

Days after a mob reportedly vandalised a Church in Roorkee, Haridwar, the Uttarakhand government has imposed National Security Act till December 31, 2021 in the state as a preventive measure.

Dehradun:In view of the deteriorating situation in the neighbouring state, the Uttarakhand government has imposed National Security Act till December 31, 2021 in the state. Additional Chief Secretary Anand Vardhan has issued orders on Monday.

The state government has said that the decision has been taken in view of the incidents of violence in different districts. Similar incidents are likely to happen in other parts of the state as well. The action came just after a mob reportedly vandalised a Church in Roorkee, Haridwar on Sunday.

Earlier Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, while speaking about the population of a community in the state, had talked about the deteriorating social harmony in the state.

The National Security Act is an act that empowers the government to detain a person if the authorities are satisfied that he/she is a threat to national security or to prevent him/her from disrupting public order.

According to the Act, States or Centre can detain a person from acting in a manner prejudicial to India's security. A person can also be detained if he/she is a threat to India's relations with foreign countries and can be imprisoned for up to 12 months without charge.

The Act is invoked to maintain public law and order and it empowers the government to detain foreigners and regulate his/her presence or expel him/her from India.

A person detained under the National Security Act can be kept for 10 days without framing charges against him/her. The detained person can appeal before the Advisory Board of the High Court, but he is not allowed a lawyer during the trial.

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