• The amendments will take into account the availability of confidential/secret documents and information now in electronic format thanks to the use of computers and internet.

Several procedural and technical amendments are also proposed, especially in view of the difficulties in investigations highlighted by officials of the CBI and Delhi Police. For instance, OSA provisions will be made compatible with amendments made over the years to the Criminal Procedure Code.

The Second Administrative Reforms Commission, headed by M Veerappa Moily, had made a strong case for a repeal of the OSA and it being “substituted by a chapter in the National Security Act, containing provisions relating to official secrets.”