BNS § 113 and UAPA
Definition
BNS 2023 § 113 creates the general criminal offence of terrorist act in India. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 (as amended 2019, with individual-designation powers) remains the primary prosecution statute for terrorism offences and provides for enhanced investigation, detention, and trial provisions.
- BNS provision
- Section 113, general terrorist act offence
- UAPA status
- 1967 Act, amended 2019, still primary prosecution statute
- UAPA adds
- Individual-designation powers, enhanced investigation/detention provisions
- Relationship
- Complementary, not mutually exclusive statutes
Common questions
Why does India retain both a BNS terrorism provision and the separate UAPA?+
BNS Section 113 provides a general criminal-code definition of terrorist act usable in ordinary prosecutions, while UAPA is a specialised statute with its own investigative powers, extended detention timelines, and mechanisms like individual designation of a person as a terrorist, which the general criminal code does not provide.
What does UAPA's individual-designation power let authorities do?+
Following the 2019 amendment, the central government can formally designate a specific individual, not just an organisation, as a terrorist under UAPA, triggering restrictions and legal consequences tied to that designation, a mechanism separate from and in addition to filing charges under BNS Section 113.
Related terms
- Channel Programme (UK)
- The referral and multi-agency assessment pathway within UK Prevent. Any public-sector professional can refer an individual; a Channel panel assesses vulnerability and...
- Disengagement vs Deradicalisation
- Disengagement: ceasing to participate in extremist activity without necessarily changing underlying beliefs. Deradicalisation: changing the beliefs and identity constructs that motivated extremism....
- Leakage
- Intentional or unintentional communication of intent to commit violence to a third party. One of TRAP-18's eight proximal warning behaviours and the...
- McCauley-Moskalenko Two-Pyramid Model
- Conceptual framework (Friction, 2011) distinguishing the opinion pyramid (distribution of extreme views) from the action pyramid (distribution of extremist behaviour). The two...
- TRAP-18 (Terrorist Radicalisation Assessment Protocol)
- 18-indicator structured professional judgement instrument by Reid Meloy, Roshdi, Guldimann and Hoffmann (2014). Distinguishes 8 proximal warning behaviours (leakage, pathway, fixation, novel...
- VERA-2R (Violent Extremism Risk Assessment)
- Structured professional judgement instrument by Elaine Pressman and John Flockton (2010, revised) for known extremist individuals in contact with the justice or...