The Punjab government has filed a petition with the Supreme Court challenging the Centre’s recent notice increasing the Border Security Force’s jurisdiction from 12 to 50 kilometres. On Friday, the suit was listed before the Registrar, and the Centre has been given 28 days to answer, following which the case will be heard by the bench.
Navjot Sidhu, the Punjab Congress chairman, praised the administration and its legal team for becoming the first state to contest the BSF’s authority expansion. ‘The fight to preserve the ideals enshrined in the Constitution, namely the federal system and state autonomy, has begun… Notice issued to the Centre to respond,’ Sidhu wrote on Twitter.
The fight to retain the principles embodied in the constitution i.e. to retain the federal structure and autonomy of the states has begun … Notice issued to the centre to respond.
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) December 11, 2021
In October, the ministry of home affairs amended the BSF’s jurisdiction, stating that beginning October 11, 2021, the BSF will be able to conduct searches, arrest suspects, and make seizures up to 50 kilometres inside Indian territory from the International Border along the India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh borders. The BSF has been given the authority to extend its jurisdiction to the states of Punjab, West Bengal, and Assam as a result of this change. The BSF’s jurisdiction has been reduced by 20 kilometres in five northeastern states (Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, and Meghalaya), and by 30 kilometres in Gujarat. In Rajasthan, their authority has remained unchanged.
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