As the fate of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) hangs in uncertainty, the Union home ministry still has some options to emerge out of the crisis and operationalise the anti-terror body. Government sources said on Wednesday that the option of making the NCTC a “statutory’’ body is being kept open by the government.
For now, the NCTC is under the Intelligence Bureau through an executive order issued by the home ministry. All state governments have primarily opposed the move to place the NCTC under the IB which does not have powers of arrest and search. However, the NCTC has been given these powers.
Top government sources said that it is only “for now’’ that the NCTC has been placed under the IB. To bring the state governments on board, the MHA could use the legislative route to build consensus on the NCTC and enact an NCTC Act subsequently.
Government sources also pointed out that the MHA’s original proposal on NCTC had envisaged bringing the National Investigation Agency under the NCTC. Officials who were involved in the drafting of the original NCTC proposal in 2009 said that the controversy over giving the NCTC powers of “arrest and search’’ would not have arisen had the NIA been brought under the ambit of the NCTC. Notably, the NIA, set up under the NIA Act in the aftermath of 26/11, already has powers of arrest.