A day after the Centre put on hold the launching of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik and Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh opposing the proposed amendment to the Railway Protection Force (RPF) Act, 1957.
“The proposed amendment to the RPF Act is in conflict with the Article 246 of the Constitution of India,” Mr Patnaik wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Stating that public order and police were state subjects, Mr Patnaik said that taking up amendment on these without consulting state governments was an infringement of their powers and against the federal structure of the Constitution.
“It is understood that the ministry of home affairs and the ministry of law and justice, the government of India have already approved the proposal of the railway ministry,” he said in the letter. The proposed amendment seeks to provide powers of police officers to RPF personnel, he said, adding: “This in itself is violative of the provisions of the Indian Police Act, 1861.”
“The justification being advanced by the ministry of railways for conferring powers of police officers on the RPF personnel so that they can conduct investigations and make arrests, is not at all convincing,” Mr Patnaik said.
In her letter, “I, request you to issue suitable instructions to the ministry of railways not to proceed with the proposed amendment to the Railway Protection Act, 1957,” she said in a letter addressed to Dr Singh.
The proposal was “yet another blatant attempt by the government to usurp the powers of the states,” she said, adding, “Public order and police are state subjects and proposing an amendment with regard to these is clearly an attempt to encroach upon the powers of the states.
“... It would be lethal to the federal structure of the nation,” she said.