More than two years after it repealed POTA, the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the UPA Government has begun working on the contours of a new law to tackle terrorism.

According to a note prepared by the Home Ministry after a meeting of the Committee of Secretaries this week, there is a proposal to incorporate new rules and procedures in the Police Act, 1861, empowering the police via a sweeping set of measures giving legal protection to fight terrorism.

The meeting was attended by senior officials of the ministries of Home and External Affairs, officials of the Planning Commission, the Cabinet Secretariat, Legal Affairs Department and the Intelligence Bureau.

It’s learnt that the Planning Commission took the stand that it would not comment as it was a “political matter”. It, however, suggested that instead of introducing new procedures in the existing Police Act, the Centre should formulate a fresh “War of Terrorism Act” (WOTA).

These include unprecedented powers of search and seizure, designation of certain areas as “special security zones” and certain categories of offence as “specialised crime.” Key to the legislation is an acknowledgement that acts of terror, where the actors move in and across several states, are crimes having “inter-state and international ramifications that undermine national interest.” And that these should be can be placed under a separate category of “federal crime.”

According to the note, accessed by The Sunday Express, several suggestions are on the table to empower the police:

To detain without warrant (including through use of appropriate force) any person suspected to have committed a specified offence

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