Parliament passes bill to give NIA more teeth

Parliament Wednesday passed a bill giving more powers to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe terrorist acts against Indians and Indian interests abroad. The Bill amends NIA Act, 2008 that provides for a national-level agency to investigate and prosecute offenses listed in the scheduled offenses, was passed by Rajya Sabha with a voice vote.

Further, the Act allows for the creation of Special Courts for the trial of scheduled offenses. The bill has been already passed by the Lok Sabha on July 15.

The NIA was set up in 2009 in the wake of the Mumbai terror attack that had claimed 166 lives. Since 2017, the Union Home Ministry has been pushing for giving more powers to the NIA to meet fresh challenges..