 bill no 84 of  2016 the national witness protection bill, 2016 by dr kirit premjibhai solanki, mp a billto provide for protection of identity of threatened witnesses in criminal cases involving serious offences and to provide for procedure and mechanism for such protection and  for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—1  (1) this act may be called the national witness protection act, 2016short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india except the state of jammu and kashmir(3) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—definitions5(a) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government ofthat state and in all other cases, the central government;(b) "concealment of identity of witness" includes any condition prohibitingpublication or revealing, in any manner, directly or indirectly, of the name, address and other particulars relating to a witness which may lead to the identification of the witness;10(c) "competent authority" means member-secretary of the national legalservices authority or state legal services authority, as the case may be;(d) "family member" includes parents, spouse, siblings, children, and grandchildren of the witness;(e) "in-camera proceeding" means proceeding wherein the public and press arenot allowed to participate;15(f) "national legal services authority" means the national legal servicesauthority constituted under the legal services authority act, 1987;39 of 1987(g) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act;20(h) "state legal service authority" means the state legal services authorityconstituted under the legal services authority act, 198739 of 198725(i) "threat analysis report" means a detailed report prepared by designated policeofficers of the district/unit investigating the case reflecting the seriousness and credibility of the threat perception to a witness or his family members containing specific details about the nature of threats faced by the witness or his family members to their life, reputation or property;(j) "witness" means any person, who possesses information or document aboutany crime regarded by the competent authority as being material to any criminal proceeding and who has made a statement or who has given or agreed to give evidence in relation to such proceeding;30(k) "witness protection application" means an application moved by the witnessin the prescribed form before a competent authority for seeking witness protection order; and35(l) "witness protection order" means an order passed by the competent authoritydetailing the steps to be taken for ensuring the safety of life, reputation or property of witness and his family members and shall include in interim order, if any, passed during the pendency of witness protection applicationprocess of availing protection3 (1) during the course of investigation of any offence, the witness may apply for witness protection order at the court in which the proceedings are being heard or before the competent authority, as the case may be, in such manner as may be prescribed40(2) the court or the competent authority, as the case may be, shall, upon receipt of an application under sub-section (1), call for the threat analysis report and, shall, upon receipt of report, evaluate the threat to the life, reputation or property of the witness or his family members or any other person, which it deems fit, to ascertain whether there is necessity to pass a witness protection order or not(3) the threat analysis report shall be submitted within seventy-two hours of the receipt of application(4) during the course of  hearing of the application, the identity of the witness shall not be revealed to any other person(5) it shall be the duty of the competent authority to provide legal aid to the applicant free of cost54 the national legal services authority shall frame policies for witness protection foreffective implementation of the provisions of this actnational legal services authority to frame policies for witness protection5 (1) it shall be the duty of the appropriate government to formulate measures for the protection of witnessmeasures for the protection of witness(2) without generality of the foregoing provision, the measures shall include—10(a) concealment of the identity of the witness; (b) avoidance of face to face contact between the witness and the accused; (c) compulsory in camera proceedings so as to protect the identity of the witness;(d) monitoring of the calls and mails of the witness and providing him with anunlisted number;15(e) installation of security devices like close circuit television (cctv) at thewitness' place of residence; and(f) undertaking any other measure issued under the witness protection order toensure safety of the witness206 the appropriate government shall, by notification in the official gazette, designatea legal services authority to perform, mutatis mutandis, the functions specified undersection 5appropriate government to designate legal service authority to perform measures to protect witness penalty7 whoever violates the provisions of this act shall be deemed to have committed the offence of contempt of court and shall be punished accordingly258 the central government shall, after due appropriation made by parliament by lawin this behalf, provide requisite sums to the appropriate governments for carrying out the purposes of this actcentral government to provide requisite fund power to remove difficulty309 (1) if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the central government may, by order published in the official gazette, make such provisions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as appears to it to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty:provided that no such order shall be made after expiry of two years from the date of commencement of this act(2) every order made under this section shall, as soon as may be after it is made, be laid before each house of parliament3510 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any otherlaw, for the time being in forceact not in derogation of other laws power to make rules11 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of the act(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity if anything previously done under that rule statement  of  objects  and  reasonsin recent years organized crime has grown and is becoming stronger and more diversein the course of investigation and prosecution of crime, particularly the more serious and complex forms of organized crime, it is essential that witnesses, the cornerstones for successful investigation and prosecution, have trust in criminal justice system witnesses need to have the confidence to come forward to assist law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities they need to be assured that they will receive support and protection from intimidation and the harm that criminal groups may seek to inflict upon them in attempts to discourage or punish them the supreme court as well as the law commission have emphasized on the need for legislative measures for protection of witnesseshence this billnew delhi;kirit  premjibhai  solankifebruary  18, 2016 financial memorandumclause 5 of the bill provides for installation of security devices like closed circuit television at witness' place of residence clause 8 provides that the central government shall provide adequate funds to the state governments for carrying out the purposes of the act the expenditure relating to states shall be borne out of the consolidated funds of respective states the expenditure relating to union territory shall be incurred from the consolidated fund of india the bill, therefore, if enacted would involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a recurring expenditure of about rupees seven hundred crore per annum would be involved from the consolidated fund of indiaa non-recurring expenditure of about rupees fifty crore is also likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 11 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the act as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character———— a billto provide for protection of identity of threatened witnesses in criminal cases involvingserious offences and to provide for procedure and mechanism for such protectionand for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(dr kirit premjibhai solanki, mp)gmgipmrnd—66ls(s3)—19042016