View source for Maintenance of Internal Security Act 1971

{{Short description|1971 Indian law}}
{{use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{use Indian English|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox legislation
| short_title    = Maintenance of Internal Security Act, 1971
| image          = Emblem of India.svg
| imagesize      = 100px
| legislature    = [[Parliament of India]]
| long_title     = An Act to provide for detention in certain cases for the purpose of maintenance of ,internal security and matters connected
therewith.
| citation       = Act No. 26 of 1971
| territorial_extent = [[India]] except [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|J&K]]
| enacted_by     = 
| date_passed    = 
| enacted_by2    = 
| date_passed2   = 
| assented_by    = [[President of India|President]] [[V. V. Giri]]
| date_assented  = 2 July 1971
| date_commenced = 
| date_repealed  = 3 August 1978
| bill_history_url = 
| bill           = 
| bill_citation  = 
| introduced_by  = 
| date_introduced = 
| passed         = 
| passed_for     = 
| passed_against = 
| passed2        = 
| passed2_for    = 
| passed2_against = 
| date_final_passage = 
| amends         = 
| repeals        = Maintenance of Internal Security Ordinance, 1971
| amended_by     = {{Ubl|Maintenance of Internal Security (Amendment) Act, 1975|Maintenance of Internal Security (Amendment) Act, 1976|Maintenance of Internal Security (Second Amendment) Act, 1976}}
| repealed_by    = Maintenance of Internal Security (Repeal) Act, 1978
| related_legislation = 
| related_cases  = 
| summary        = 
| keywords       = 
| status         = repealed
}}

The '''Maintenance of Internal Security Act, 1971''' (MISA) was a controversial [[Indian law|law]] passed by the [[Indian parliament]] in 1971, giving the administration of Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]] and Indian law enforcement agencies very broad powers &ndash; indefinite [[preventive detention]] of individuals, search and seizure of property without warrants, and wiretapping &ndash; in the quelling of civil and political disorder in [[India]], as well as countering foreign-inspired [[sabotage]], [[terrorism]], [[wikt:subterfuge|subterfuge]] and threats to national security. The law was amended several times during the subsequently declared [[The Emergency (India)|national emergency]] (1975&ndash;1977) and used for quelling political dissent. Finally, it was repealed in 1977, when Indira Gandhi lost the [[1977 Indian general election]] and the [[Janata Party]] came to power.<ref name="GangulyDiamond2007">{{cite book|last1=Ganguly|first1=Sumit|last2=Diamond|first2=Larry|last3=Plattner|first3=Marc F.|title=The State of India's Democracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lgs1tFTh-JMC&pg=PA130|date=13 August 2007|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-8791-8|pages=130–}}</ref>

==History==
MISA was enacted on 2 July 1971, and replaced a previous ordinance with similar intent called, the "Maintenance of Internal Security Ordinance" promulgated by the [[President of India]] on 7 May 1971. The Act was based on the Preventive Detention Act of 1950 (PDA), enacted for a period of a year, before it was extended until 31 December 1969.<ref name="HardingHatchard1993">{{cite book|last1=Harding|first1=Andrew|last2=Hatchard|first2=John|title=Preventive Detention and Security Law: A Comparative Survey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J0eBd0JDvRQC&pg=PA61|year=1993|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|isbn=0-7923-2432-3|pages=61–}}</ref>

The legislation gained infamy for its disregard of legal and constitutional safeguards of [[civil rights]], especially when "going all the way down" on the competition, and during the period of [[The Emergency (India)|national emergency]] (1975&ndash;1977) as thousands of innocent people were believed to have been arbitrarily arrested, tortured and in some cases, even [[Forced sterilization|forcibly sterilized]].<ref name="Saxena2007">{{cite book|last=Saxena|first=Priti|title=Preventive Detention and Human Rights|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n2k3QCHpcroC&pg=PA99|date=1 January 2007|publisher=Deep & Deep Publications|isbn=978-81-7629-992-3|pages=99–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Current Trends in Indian Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P-c0nGTRxRIC&pg=PA115|date=1 January 1998|publisher=Deep & Deep Publications|isbn=978-81-7100-798-1|pages=115–}}</ref>

The legislation was also invoked to justify the arrest of Indira Gandhi's political opponents, including the leaders and activists of the opposition [[Janata Party]]. In all, during the emergency period of 1975&ndash;1977, some 100,000 people, which included journalists, scholars, activists and opposition politicians, were detained without trial for up to 18 months. Some people were even detained for opposing forced sterilization drives or demolition of slums carried out during this period.<ref name="GangulyDiamond2007"/>

The [[Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution of India|39th Amendment]] to the [[Constitution of India]] placed MISA in the [[Constitution of India#Schedules|9th Schedule]] to the Constitution, thereby making it totally immune from any [[judicial review]] even on the grounds that it contravened the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution, or violated the [[Basic Structure]].{{fact|date=February 2024}}

The law was repealed in 1977 following the election of a [[Janata Party]]-led government; the [[List of amendments to the Constitution of India|44th Amendment Act of 1978]] similarly removed MISA from the 9th Schedule.<ref name="HardingHatchard1993"/>

However, other coercive legislation like [[Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act|Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958]] (AFSPA), the [[Essential Services Maintenance Act]] (ESMA, 1968), and economic counterpart of the act, [[Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act]] (COFEPOSA) enacted on 13 December 1974 to prevent smuggling and black-marketing in foreign exchange is still enforced.<ref name="HardingHatchard1993"/> Controversial successors to such legislation include the [[National Security Act (India)|National Security Act]] (1980), [[Terrorism and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act]] (TADA, 1985&ndash;1995), and the [[Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002|Prevention of Terrorism Act]] (POTA, 2002), criticized for authorizing excessive powers for the aim of fighting internal and cross-border terrorism and political violence, without safeguards for civil freedoms.<ref name="HardingHatchard1993"/><ref name="Singh2009">{{cite book|last=Singh|first=Ujjwal Kumar|title=Human Rights and Peace: Ideas, Laws, Institutions and Movements|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yx00xCWCulEC&pg=PA246|date=6 January 2009|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-81-7829-884-9|pages=246–}}</ref>

==Pension==
In the non-[[Indian National Congress]] ruled states of [[Madhya Pradesh]] and [[Chhattisgarh]],<ref name=hindu/><ref>{{cite web | title = Misa detainees to get monthly pension in Chhattisgarh|publisher=The Telegraph | url = http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080524/jsp/nation/story_9311405.jsp | archive-url = https://archive.today/20140529063625/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080524/jsp/nation/story_9311405.jsp | url-status = dead | archive-date = 29 May 2014 |date=24 May 2008| access-date = 2014-05-29  }}</ref> people detained under Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) and Defence of India Act (DIR) during the 1975-1977 national emergency, get [[Indian rupee|Rs.]] {{formatnum:15000}} pension per month from the respective state governments. In 2014, the Rajasthan government restarted its pension scheme of  Rs. {{formatnum:12000}} per month for 800 enlisted former detainees, first launched under Chief Minister [[Vasundhara Raje]]'s first term in 2008. The scheme was discontinued in 2009, by [[Ashok Gehlot]]-led Congress government.<ref name=hindu>{{cite web | title = Raje re-launches pension scheme for MISA and DIR detainees |work=The Hindu | url = http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/raje-relaunches-pension-scheme-for-misa-and-dir-detainees/article5738477.ece |date=1 March 2014|access-date = 2014-05-29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Monthly pension to detainees under Maintenance of Internal Security Act 
| url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Monthly-pension-to-detainees-under-Maintenance-of-Internal-Security-Act/articleshow/28353798.cms |date=4 January 2014| access-date = 2014-05-29 | work = [[The Times of India]] }}</ref>

==Detainees==
{{moresources|section|date=February 2024}}
Some notable political leaders imprisoned under Maintenance of Internal Security Act:
* [[Jayprakash Narayan]]
* [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/vajpayee-was-in-bengaluru-prison-during-emergency-118081601491_1.html|title = 'Vajpayee was in Bengaluru prison during Emergency'|newspaper = Business Standard India|date = 16 August 2018}}</ref> 
* [[Lal Krishna Advani]]
* [[Chandra Shekhar]]
* [[Devi Lal (politician)|Devi Lal]]
* [[George Fernandes]]
* [[M. K. Stalin]]
* [[Arcot N. Veeraswami]]
* Jai Kishan Gupta (one of the longest MISA detainee from Delhi)
* [[Mulayam Singh Yadav]]
* [[Lalu Prasad Yadav]]
* Santosh Bharti, thrice (1973 - 74 - 75)
* [[Sharad Yadav]], twice (1973–75)
* [[Vijay Rupani]]
* Charanjeet Bhatia
* Choudhary Mir Singh philanthropist from Munirka, Delhi
* Dr. Satpal kapoor, Sonepat (Hr.)
* N. Azu Newmai, one of the leaders of UDF, a regional political party of Nagaland

==See also==
* [[Forty-second Amendment of the Constitution of India|42nd Amendment Act of 1976]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web|title=Maintenance of Internal Security Act of 1971| url = http://lawmin.nic.in/legislative/textofcentralacts/1971.pdf |pages=91–97|publisher= Ministry of Law}}

{{Indian Emergency}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maintenance Of Internal Security Act}}
[[Category:The Emergency (India)]]
[[Category:Acts of the Parliament of India 1971]]
[[Category:Human rights abuses in India]]
[[Category:Internal security issues of India]]
[[Category:Repealed Indian legislation]]
[[Category:Indira Gandhi administration]]
[[Category:1977 disestablishments in India]]
[[Category:Repealed Acts of the Parliament of India]]