Doubts of Bengal, Punjab on enhanced BSF jurisdiction ill-founded: MoS Home

New Delhi: Apprehensions of the West Bengal and Punjab governments with regard to the recent enhancement of jurisdiction of the Border Security Force are "ill-founded", and this will rather help in "more effective control" of trans-border crimes in cooperation with the states, the government told the Rajya Sabha on

Wednesday.

The Union government had in October issued a notification extending the jurisdiction of the border force in West Bengal, Punjab and Assam from the existing 15 kms to 50 kms from the front.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, said in a written reply, that the governments of West Bengal and Punjab have expressed their "apprehension that such a move encroaches upon the powers of the state government".

"Their apprehensions are ill-founded. The extension of territorial jurisdiction of Border Security Force (BSF) would result in better and more effective control on trans-border crimes in conjunction and cooperation with the states," the minister stated.

Rai said Section 139 (1) (i) of BSF Act, 1968 empowers the central government to confer powers and duties on members of the force in respect of any central Acts for the purposes specified.