NATIONAL INVESTIGATION AGENCY

Disclaimer: Copyright infringement not intended.

Context

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the investigation into a complaint filed by the Mayiladuthurai police in Tamil Nadu against five people, saying that they planned to form anti-national organisations and had ties to the terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

What is National Investigation Agency?

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act of 2008 established the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
It is a central agency charged for investigating and prosecuting crimes:
harming India's sovereignty, security, and integrity, as well as state security and amicable ties with other countries
oppose nuclear and atomic power plants
High-Quality Counterfeit Indian Currency Smuggling
It carries out the United Nations', its agencies', and other international organisations' international treaties, accords, conventions, and resolutions.
Its goal is also to fight terrorism in India.
The Central Counter-Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency is in charge of it.

What are the challenges?

Legal Requirements:
- In the Indian judicial system, there is no provision that allows a domain expert to be a formal member of the evidence gathering team.
- In the absence of such a provision, the prosecution risks being charged with evidence tampering if any agency uses a domain expert, as the Criminal Procedure Code only allows the police to gather evidence.
Inducement of experts:
- Domain expertise were also required for efficient use of the instruments used to investigate such crimes.
- Investigative agencies had often made suggestions for inducting specialists and providing necessary staff training under the UPA era.
Cross-border investigation:
- Problems involving many countries demand more skilled and effective teams.
- Such team formations necessitate a change in the legislation as well as the government's willingness to make the change.
Police – the state subject:
- The preservation of public order and police forces are listed as matters of state in Schedule VII of the Constitution.
- Criminal law, on the other hand, is on the concurrent list, while national security is on the union list.

What is the way forward?

Given that cross-border investigations are frequently required in cybercrime cases, a mechanism of cooperative investigations involving investigators from India and the nations involved should be implemented.
The need of team inquiry should be emphasised.
It is widely used in many nations. Crimes like the ransomware assault on a pipeline network in the United States, for example, were probed by teams of police officers and professionals in the disciplines.