Govt to set up POTA review committees

NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 19 (PTI) The Union Home Ministry will soon set up three committees headed by retired Judges to review the cases filed under the disbanded anti-terrorist law POTA which are pending before designated courts across the country.

"One of the Committees will be headed by retired Delhi High Court Judge Justice Usha Mehra," Law Minister H R Bharadwaj told reporters. "We will soon send the names of other two retired Judges to the Home Ministry, which will constitute the Committees," he added.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Shivraj Patil is chairing a high-level meeting today to finalise the names of retired Judges for the two Committees, sources said.

Of the three, one would function from the Vigyan Bhawan office of the Review Committee earlier headed by Justice A B Saharya, who resigned soon after the POTA was repealed by an ordinance brought by the Congress-led UPA Government.

The ordinance provided that notwithstanding the repeal of POTA, the Review Committee constituted by the Centre under the repealed law would continue to function to review all cases registered under POTA "as to whether there is a prima facie case for proceeding against the accused and that such review shall be completed within a period of one year."