3.3.1 The indiscriminate use of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act
The Indian press has carried reports that the central government has been concerned about the use of the TADA in Punjab. There have been repeated complaints that innocent people have been arrested under the act and have been released only after paying compulsory, large sums of money to the police. The central government reportedly requested the state authorities to review the cases of those held under the act in the “maximum security” jails in Sangrur and Nabha, whose number was put at 2,500. In addition there has been widespread concern that the act has been used without sufficient discrimination. In May 1987, for example, following the imposition of President’s Rule in Punjab, more than a thousand political prisoners were arrested under “anti- terrorist” legislation. They included two former Akali Dal ministers and 37 members of the All India Sikh Students Federation, 35 members of the United Akali Kal and 35 members of the Damdami Taksal.
On 7 December 1987 the Supreme Court expressed distress that the Uttar Pradesh Government had opposed and a court in the state had not granted bail to two men arrested under the TADA because they were Sikhs and residents of Punjab. The Supreme Court held that there had been a “complete miscarriage of justice” and that “there can be no different treatment between citizens and citizens in the matter of granting bail.”
Elsewhere also there have been indications that the TADA has been grossly misused. Of particular concern is its use in Gujarat, a state from which no pattern of political violence has been reported. In September 1987, 1,364 people, some of them old, were reported to be in detention in Gujarat under the provisions of the TADA. By the end of October 1987 the Indian press put the number of people charged under the act in Gujarat at 2,230 1,800 of
