The Lok Sabha passed unanimously the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Bill and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment (UAPA) Bill during the night session on Wednesday, December 17, 2008.
The bill to amend the UAPA has stringent provisions, including a detention period of 180 days, instead of the present 90 days, and denial of bail altogether to a foreigner accused of acts of terrorism in India.
The amendments also provide for freezing, seizing and attaching funds and other financial assets or economic resources held by individuals or entities engaged in or suspected to be engaged in terrorism.
The NIA is proposed to be set up to probe terrorist attacks, trade in counterfeit currency and other crimes with ramifications across the country.
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Upping the ante further, Sibal asked Advani to apologise to the nation for the 1999 Kandahar hijacking, when the NDA government released three terrorists, and for the 2001 parliament attack by terrorists.
"I want to remind the house about the plane that was taken from Amritsar (Punjab) to Kandahar (Afghanistan)," he said.
Militants had hijacked an Indian Airlines plane to Kandahar and taken all passengers hostage. Acceding to the militants' demand, then external affairs minister Jaswant Singh escorted three terrorists, released from Indian jails, to the Afghanistan town in exchange for passengers aoard the hijacked plane.
Sibal added: "Maulana Masood Azhar after his release formed Jaish-e-Mohammed, which attacked parliament. So parliament was attacked because you (Advani) released him," he said referring to the terrorist attack on the parliament complex Dec 13, 2001.
"You (Advani) should apologise to the house as you were the home minister," Sibal added in a reference to the attack on parliament that India blamed on Pakistan. more
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