Centre enhances powers of BSF

• The Union Home Ministry has enhanced the powers of the Border Security Force (BSF) to “arrest, search and seize” within 50 km from the international boundary in Assam, West Bengal and Punjab.
• Such operational powers of the BSF, a Central armed police force under the Union, will also be applicable to the newly created Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

BSF enhanced powers

• The powers of the Border Security Force have been increased by the Central government by allowing them to “arrest, search and seize” within 50 km from the international boundaries of Assam, Punjab and West Bengal.
• According to the notification published in the Gazette of India, such powers of BSF will also be applied in the freshly created Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
• Earlier the BSF was limited to carry out such activities within 80 km from the international border in Gujarat and within 15 km in Rajasthan, Punjab, West Bengal and Assam.
• The 2014 order under the BSF Act,1968 also included the north-eastern states of Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.
• However, now the order will be replaced by that of October 11, 2021.
• The 2014 order didn’t include the former state of Jammu and Kashmir, which was divided into two Union Territories- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in August 2019. However, mention of it could be found in a previous amendment of 1973.
• But the recent order specifically includes both the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
• A BSF official said the amendment “establishes uniformity in defining the area within which the BSF can operate.” BSF carries out search and seizures for violations such as smuggling of prohibited items and narcotics, illegal immigrants and other punishable offences under any Central Act.
• However after the detainment of the suspect and seizure of consignment within the specified area, the BSF can only conduct ‘preliminary questioning’ and later has to hand over him to the local police within 24 hours.

Demerit:

• It acts as an attack on the federal structure of the nation.

Border Security Force (BSF)

• BSF is the primary border guarding organisation of India and termed as First Line of Defence of Indian Territories.
• It is the sentinels of Indian borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
• It came into existence on 1st December 1965.
• It was created by merging various State Armed Police Battalions for achieving a better-coordinated synergy between the border guarding functions in peacetime and fighting the war during the eventuality on both Western and Eastern fronts.
• BSF is deployed on Indo-Pakistan International Border, Indo-Bangladesh International Border, Line of Control (LoC) along with Indian Army and in Anti-Naxal Operations.
• Since its inception, BSF has proven its credentials during various counter-insurgency and anti-militancy operations, internal security duties, natural calamities etc.
• BSF is one of the five Central Armed Police Forces of the Union of India under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
• It is mandated with guarding India’s land border during peacetime and preventing transnational crime.
• BSF currently stands as the world’s largest border guarding force.