Examining the Constitutional Validity of The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019

13 Pages Posted: 6 Dec 2021

Date Written: November 30, 2021

Abstract

The roots of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 can be traced back to colonial times when the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act was introduced in 1908. The intention was wide and clear to put the freedom fighters under detention through the newly amended act and adding 'Unlawful Association' for the first time. Even post-independence, the Nehru-government preferred to use the provisions of the act against the citizens speaking against the Government or the land reforms they wished to introduce. Not just the Centre, even the states came up with their own detention laws like Preventive Detention Act, 1950 and various Supreme Court judgements like AK Gopalan vs State of Madras and Romesh Thapar vs State of Madras came flooding in to uphold the sanctity of the fundamental rights. It was in Ram Nandan vs The State that the Supreme Court finally held the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1908 as unconstitutional. Through multiple amendments in the years 1951 and 1963 various reasonable restrictions were added to Article 19 of the Constitution to outsource the Governmental authority over the fundamental rights granted to the citizens. The first amendment ensured the introduction of the Ninth Schedule which the government once hoped to use upon any legislation, to keep it outside the purview of the Judicial Review. The 16th Amendment however, created a stepping stone to the enactment of UAPA in 1967 to silence down the voices or critics that the government had to face during the 1962 Indo-China war. The Reasonable Restrictions of 'Sovereignty and Integrity' of the state was added through which the Government aimed to capture away individuals or organizations which demanded autonomy of demanded to secede from the Union.

Keywords: UAPA, 1967, UAPA (Amendment), 2019, Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, First and Sixteenth Amendment, Reasonable Restrictions to Article 19(1), Judicial Review, Preventive Detention

JEL Classification: K39

Suggested Citation

Pushkar, Amritanshu, Examining the Constitutional Validity of The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019 (November 30, 2021). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3974648 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3974648

Amritanshu Pushkar (Contact Author)

Symbiosis Law School ( email )

Senapati Bapat Road
Pune, Opp. Pune Airport, New Airport Road, 411 004
India
020-26551100 (Phone)

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