Home Ministry has kept its order that empowered Assam Rifles, deployed along the Myanmar border, to arrest anyone and search a place without warrant in border districts of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram “in abeyance.”
Powers under Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), were available to Assam Rifles under the Assam Rifles Act, 1941. However, after the new Assam Rifles Act 2006 came into operation, the issue of re-conferring these powers has remained under consideration.
“It has been decided that the enabling notifications issued on February 19, giving powers to Assam Rifles, be kept in abeyance and the entire matter be revisited in consultation with the State Governments concerned,” said the official.
According to a Home Ministry notification, “an officer of the rank corresponding to that of the lowest rank of members of the Assam Rifles” had been given these powers under the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Earlier the Assam Rifles, one of the central armed police forces is the leading counter-insurgency force in the Northeast, was making arrests in areas where Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) was in effect. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had lifted AFSPA from some areas in Arunachal Pradesh last year.
Effective enforcement
This issue acquired urgency recently for the effective enforcement of Free Movement Regime on the Indo-Myanmar border (on the 16 km belt on either side).
The Free Movement Regime was streamlined after the bilateral agreement between India and Myanmar on Land Border Crossing was finalized in the year 2018. This will require giving suitable powers to Border Guarding Forces under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and Passport Act, 1967 and Passport Entry into India Act, 1920, a home ministry official explained.