Enemy Agents Ordinance | 28 Jun 2024

Source: IE

Why in News?

Recently, Jammu and Kashmir's Director General of Police (DGP) proposed using the Enemy Agents Ordinance of 2005, which includes penalties such as life imprisonment or the death penalty, to prosecute militant supporters instead of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

What is the Enemy Agent Ordinance?

• About:
  • Introduced in 1917 by the Dogra Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). 
    • The term 'ordinance' reflects the nomenclature for laws used during the Dogra era.
  • Post-Partition Evolution: The ordinance was re-enacted in 1948  as a law by the Maharaja in exercise of his law-making powers conferred by Section 5 of the Constitution Act of Kahmir, 1939.
  • Legal Basis: The Enemy Agent Ordinance was subsequently protected by inclusion in the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution of 1957, particularly under Section 157.
• Constitutional Changes after Abrogation of Article 370: 
  • Key security legislation like the Enemy Agents Ordinance and Public Safety Act were retained.
  • Some laws, such as the Ranbir Penal Code, were superseded by the Indian Penal Code.
• Key Provisions of Enemy Ordinance:

  • Definition of Enemy Agent: 

    • Enemy agent ordinance targets agents or friends of the enemy rather than the enemy itself. It defines the enemy in the context of the 1947 tribal invasion of Kashmir. 
    • Anyone who conspires with another person to act intended to aid the enemy is regarded as an enemy agent.
  • Punishment: 
    • Enemy agents shall be punished with death or rigorous imprisonment for life or with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years and shall also be liable to fine.
  • Judicial Validation and Trial:
    • In Rehman Shagoo vs State of Jammu and Kashmir Case, 1959, the Supreme Court upheld the enemy agent ordinance.
    • The trial under the Enemy Agents Ordinance is conducted by a special government-appointed judge in consultation with the High Court.
      • Accused under the ordinance cannot engage a lawyer unless permitted by the court and there is no provision for appeal against the verdict.