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NATIONAL INVESTIGATION AGENCY

6th May, 2022

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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.

 

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