Special Act of UAPA: Its Constitutional Validity

A nation’s existence revolves around maintaining its national security. In India, one of the many legislations that has been enacted is the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, of 1967, which is an anti-terror act passed after the repealing of POTA. However, the draconian provisions of it have been reinforced in UAPA thus also giving powers to the government to misuse the legislation and designate any individual as a terrorist, at their discretion. The Act has gone through various amendments The provisions of UAPA are seen to be violating several fundamental rights which makes us question the constitutional validity of the legislation. The legislation is can be easily misused by the government for draconian measures in the name of national security and preventive detention. In this paper, we analyse the constitutional validity of the act and the provisions that violate the fundamental rights of the citizens through the Draconian nature of the law.