By IANS,
New Delhi : Amid the debate on the need for a stringent law to check the rising instances of terrorism, Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan Saturday favoured sufficient safeguards against its possible misuse.
“India is a signatory to various human rights conventions and is a known protector of the human rights,” said the chief justice. “The risk of having stringent anti-terror law is that it can be misused.”
Maintaining that only parliament can take the final call on this, Justice Balakrishnan said there should be sufficient sefeguards against the misuse of the law if the legislature enacts one.
He made the remark in an informal interaction with reporters after inaugurating at the Supreme Court Museum an exhibition on the trial of Bhagat Singh.
A series of terrorist attacks across India in recent months has led to a debate on legal measures to check extremism with the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanding the revival of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) and the government thinking of adding stringent provisions to the exisiting laws.