The confusion over application of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) has led a virtual standoff between the state’s investigating agencies and a section of the judiciary.

Yesterday, the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) at Jhargram, while extending the police custody of the arrested PCAPA leader Chhatradhar Mahato by three days, said he could not extend it by 18 days as asked by the police since the evidence produced by them was inadequate and did not justify the application of the UAPA.

The judge, Vishal Mangrathi, had earlier said he was not convinced about the application of the UAPA on Mahato since the state government was yet to issue a notification banning the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCAPA), which the police say is a frontal organisation of the banned CPI (Maoist).

On the other hand, state DGP Bhupinder Singh today said there is no need to issue any notice declaring imposition of the UAPA since it was a Central Act.

The police brass is clearly divided. “No case against Mahato, Sukhshnti Baskey (treasurer of the PCAPA) and the others booked under the UAPA will stand the scrutiny of the higher court as there are serious procedural lapses over the application of the Central Act on the part of state government. This is quite evident after the CID was not granted 18 days of Mahato’s custody,” said a senior CID official.

Meanwhile, the police and CID brass today met Balai Roy, the advocate general of the state, to seek legal help.

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