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Indian PolityMedium

What is the maximum period for which a person may be detained under the National Security Act, 1980?

  1. A.Three months
  2. B.Six months
  3. C.Twelve months
  4. D.Twenty-four months

Correct answer

C. Twelve months

Explanation

The correct answer is C, twelve months. The National Security Act, 1980 permits preventive detention for a maximum of twelve months from the date of detention, though the detaining authority may order a shorter period and extend it within that ceiling. Option A is wrong, but it is the most attractive distractor: three months is the limit in Article 22(4) of the Constitution beyond which no preventive detention may continue unless an Advisory Board reports that there is sufficient cause for it, so three months is a checkpoint and not the maximum. Option B is wrong because six months has no place in the scheme of the Act. Option D is wrong because twenty-four months is the ceiling found in some State preventive detention laws dealing with bootleggers and smugglers, not in the National Security Act. Remember the pair: three months for the Advisory Board, twelve months for the outer limit.

Read the full article: Internal Security Laws: UAPA, AFSPA, NSA and NIA Notes

Practice Questions

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Q2.Indian PolityMedium

Which amendment to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act allowed the Central Government to designate an individual as a terrorist?

  1. A.The amendment of 2004
  2. B.The amendment of 2008
  3. C.The amendment of 2012
  4. D.The amendment of 2019
Show answer
Correct answer: D. The amendment of 2019

Until then the UAPA allowed the Government to notify only an organisation as a terrorist organisation; the UAPA (Amendment) Act, 2019 added the power to notify an individual as a terrorist and to enter that name in the Fourth Schedule of the Act.

Q3.Indian PolityMedium

Under which section of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 is an area declared to be a disturbed area?

  1. A.Section 2
  2. B.Section 3
  3. C.Section 4
  4. D.Section 6
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Section 3

Section 3 of AFSPA empowers the Governor of a State, the administrator of a Union Territory or the Central Government to declare the whole or a part of a State or Union Territory to be a disturbed area, and that declaration is the condition on which every other power in…

Q4.Indian PolityMedium

Prosecution of a person acting under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 requires the previous sanction of which authority?

  1. A.The Governor of the State
  2. B.The High Court of the State
  3. C.The Central Government
  4. D.The State Government
Show answer
Correct answer: C. The Central Government

Section 6 of AFSPA provides that no prosecution, suit or other legal proceeding shall be instituted against any person in respect of anything done in exercise of the powers conferred by the Act, except with the previous sanction of the Central Government.

Q5.Indian PolityHard

Under which provision of the Constitution is preventive detention beyond three months permitted only when an Advisory Board reports that there is sufficient cause for it?

  1. A.Article 20(3)
  2. B.Article 21
  3. C.Article 22(4)
  4. D.Article 32
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Article 22(4)

Article 22(4) says that no law providing for preventive detention shall authorise detention for longer than three months unless an Advisory Board, consisting of persons qualified to be judges of a High Court, has reported before the expiry of that period that there is sufficient cause for the detention.