BORDER
SECURITY FORCE - DEFENCE AND SECURITY
News: BSF to
recalibrate deployment along Pakistan border in Jammu in the wake of terror
strikes
What's
in the news?
●
The
Border Security Force (BSF) is likely to “recalibrate deployment” along the
Pakistan border in Jammu, in the wake of at least four terror
strikes in the past few weeks.
Border
Security Force:
●
The
Border Security Force (BSF) is India's primary border guarding organization
operating along the borders with
Pakistan and Bangladesh.
●
As one of the seven Central Armed Police
Forces (CAPF), it was established after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965,
specifically "for ensuring the security of the borders of India and for
related matters".
●
The
BSF operates under the Border Security Force Act, 1968.
Motto - Duty Unto Death
Nodal
Authority - Ministry
of Home Affairs
Deployment:
●
On-Line
of Control (LoC) along with Indian Army and in Anti-Naxal Operations.
Powers
of BSF:
●
It
has a power to arrest, search and seize
under laws such as the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920, Passport Act,
1967, Customs Act, 1962, The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act,
1985, and certain other laws.
●
It
mainly focuses on preventing
trans-border crimes, especially unauthorized entry into or exit from Indian
territory.
●
It does not have the power to investigate or
prosecute offenders, but has to hand over those arrested and the contraband
seized from them to the local police.
●
In
practice, BSF personnel usually work in close
coordination with the police and there ought to be no clash of
jurisdiction.
●
Section
139(1) of the BSF Act allows the central government, through an order, to
designate an area “within the local limits of such area adjoining the borders
of India” where members of the BSF can exercise powers to prevent offenses
under any Acts that the central government may specify.
Notification
of Centre and Extension of BSF Jurisdiction:
●
In
October 2021, the Centre had issued a notification under the provisions of the
BSF Act, standardizing the area over which the BSF would have jurisdiction to
operate.
●
In Punjab, West Bengal and Assam, the
distance was raised from within 15 km from the border to 50 km.
●
It
was reduced from 80 km to 50 km in Gujarat.
●
For
Rajasthan, it was kept unchanged at
50 km.
● According to the BSF, the decision to extend the jurisdiction of the security force to a 50 km belt along the international border in Punjab, West Bengal, and Assam was taken to ‘give uniformity to the jurisdiction’ across the states.