"Home Ministry Designates Pakistan-linked Digital Terror Network"
UAPA
The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, India's principal law against terrorism and unlawful activities.
Section 35
UAPA provision empowering the government to designate an organisation as terrorist by notification.
The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) is India's principal anti-terror law. It was substantially strengthened through amendments in 2004, 2008, and 2019, expanding its scope from banning secessionist organisations to covering organised terrorism, terror financing, and individual designation. Section 35 of the Act empowers the Union Government to add any organisation to the First Schedule as a "terrorist organisation" through a Gazette notification, once satisfied that the group is involved in or supports terrorism. Groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and the Popular Front of India have been designated using this provision.
The UAPA (Amendment) Act, 2019 extended this power further, allowing the government to designate individuals, not only organisations, as terrorists. This reflects a shift in the threat landscape. Terrorism today is increasingly conducted through decentralised, digitally coordinated networks rather than hierarchical armed groups. The recent designation of a Pakistan-linked social media network fits this pattern. It shows how proxy actors, allegedly backed by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, now use digital platforms to recruit, direct, and finance operatives inside India without any physical presence.
A UAPA designation carries specific legal consequences beyond an ordinary criminal case. Once notified, membership of the organisation itself becomes a punishable offence under the Act, and its funds and assets can be frozen or seized. The organisation, or any aggrieved person, may challenge the designation before a review tribunal, typically headed by a sitting or retired High Court judge, which examines whether sufficient cause exists for the ban. This procedural safeguard balances executive national-security discretion with due process.
Investigating such networks usually falls to a combination of state police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA), set up under the NIA Act, 2008 after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to handle terrorism and terror-financing cases with a pan-India, cross-state mandate. …
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Consider the following statements regarding the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967:
1.Section 35 empowers the Union Government to designate an organisation as a 'terrorist organisation'.
2.Only organisations, and not individuals, can be designated as terrorists under the Act.
3.A review tribunal can examine a challenge to such a designation.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Which of the following are consequences of an organisation being designated a 'terrorist organisation' under the UAPA, 1967?
1.Membership of the organisation becomes a punishable offence.
2.The organisation's funds and assets can be frozen or seized.
3.The designation cannot be legally challenged once notified.
Select the correct answer using the code below:
With reference to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), consider the following statements:
1.It was established under the NIA Act, 2008, in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
2.It has the power to investigate scheduled offences, including those under the UAPA, across state lines without requiring separate state consent for each case.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Match List I (Law) with List II (Primary subject matter it addresses) and select the correct answer using the code given below:
List I:
A.Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967
B.Information Technology Act, 2000
C.Official Secrets Act, 1923
D.Explosive Substances Act, 1908
List II:
1.Cyber offences and electronic records
2.Terrorism and unlawful activities
3.Espionage and protection of state secrets
4.Possession and use of explosives
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