Mamata writes to PM, says centre is infringing upon state's rights

Bhubaneswar: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to "review and withdraw" the order on organisation, function, power and duties of the newly constituted National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Expressing concern over the alleged infringement of federal rights of states, Banerjee in a letter to the Prime Minister, dated February 14, said: "It is difficult for the state government to accept such arbitrary exercise of power by the central government/central agency, which have a bearing on the rights and privilege of the states as enshrined in the Constitution of India."

Ms Banerjee's letter to the Prime Minister issued by the Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's office today said that in a federal structure, any decision of the central government, which infringed upon the powers and rights of the state governments should be taken only after adequate consultation and with the consent of the state governments.

"This has not been done in the instant case," she said, adding that the present order did not require that the NCTC would discharge its functions in coordination and consultation with the state police or the state government.

"The order, therefore, appears to be an infringement on the powers of state governments in matters of investigation and maintenance of order," she said in the letter.

Under this order issued, dated February 3, Ms Banerjee said extensive powers have been given to the NCTC located in the Intelligence Bureau (IB), and added that officers of the Operations Division of the NCTC will have the power to arrest and the powers to search under section 4 3-A of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

Also all authorities including the functionaries of the state governments are required to provide information/documents to the NCTC, Ms Banerjee said.

Earlier, on February 13, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had written to the Prime Minister opposing the powers to the newly constituted NCTC.

"I have written a strongly worded letter to the Prime Minister opposing the powers given to the NCTC," Patnaik said. Patnaik had also described the February 3 MHA order as "draconian."