SUARAM welcomes the Prime Minister’s directive for a review and reassessment of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA). However, this step must not delay the long overdue amendments. Comprehensive stakeholder engagements were already conducted by then Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of Law and Institutional Reforms Ramkarpal Singh in 2023, with detailed recommendations for amendments submitted to the Home Ministry. What is needed now is not another round of reviews, but swift action to implement these amendments without further delay.
Among the amendments that SUARAM hopes to see is the abolition of Section 4(5) on the 28-day pre-charge detention without judicial oversight, as it contravenes the right to fair trial and creates conditions ripe for torture and ill-treatment in custody. We also call for the amendment to Section 13(1) that will grant all detainees the right to apply for bail, similar to provisions on bail in the Criminal Procedure Code - instead of the current provision that limits bail applications to only women, children and the sick or infirm. Limiting the circumstances under which bail can be applied for goes against the presumption of innocence and inflicts severe socioeconomic harm on detainees’ families, often plunging them into financial distress and affecting the wellbeing and education of their children.
On this note, the Home Ministry must immediately set a clear timeline for tabling the SOSMA amendments in Parliament and to impose a moratorium on all ongoing and future SOSMA cases until these critical reforms are implemented.
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