NSA in Delhi: What the LG's notification says, what it really means

New Delhi: Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal has issued an order giving the Police Commissioner the power to detain individuals under the tough National Security Act (NSA), 1980. A notification to this effect was issued on January 10, and the order comes into effect from Sunday (January 19).

Given the daily protests in the national Capital against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the National Population Register (NPR), and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), the order triggered apprehensions on Friday night that a crackdown was imminent.

Delhi Police officers have, however, clarified that the order is routine, and is issued periodically.

An identical order was, for example, issued on October 16, 2015, conferring the "powers of detaining authority" upon the Commissioner for the period October 19, 2015 to January 18, 2016. Najeeb Jung was L-G at the time.

Sections mentioned in the order

The January 10 notification speaks of "powers conferred by the sub-section (3) of section 3, read with clause (e) of Section 2 of the National Security Act, 1980".