 bill no 55 of 1988 the specia l protection group bill, 1988 'a billto provide for the constitution and regulation of an armed force of th9 union for providing proximate security to the prime minister of india and the members of his immediate family and for matters connect­ed therewithb e it enacted by parliam ent in th« t hirty-ninth y ear of the republic of india as follow s:—1 (1) this act m ay be called the special protection g roup act, 1988(2) it shall come into force on such date as the c entral governm ent j  may, by notification in the official gazette, appointshort title and com­mence­ment2 in this act, luiless the context otherwise requires,—definition»(o) "active duty" in relation to a m em ber of the g roup means any duty as such m em ber during the period w hen he is posted to physically protect the prim e m inister of india and the members of his im m ediate family, w herever he or they m ay be;10(b) "d irector" m eans the d irector of the group appointed xmder sub-section (i) of section 5;(c) "g roup'' m eans the special protection group constituted under section 4;15(d) "m em ber of the g roup" m eans a person who has been appointed to the g roup by the prescribed authority w hether before or after the commencement of this act;(e) "m em bers of im m ediate fam ily" m eans wife, husband, ckildren and parm ts;(j) "prescribed'' m eans prescribed by rules m ade under this act;(g) "proxim ate security" m eans protection provided from  close quarters, during journey by road, rail, aircraft, w atercraft or on foot or any other m eans of transport and shall include the places of functions, engagem ents, residence or h alt and shall com prise ring round team s, isolation cordons, the sterile zone around, and the rostrum  and access control to, the person or m em bers of his im m ediate fam ily;45 of(h) all words and expressions used and not defined in this act but defined in the indian p enal code shall have the m eanings res- 10 pectively assigned to them  in th at code3 every m em ber of the g roup shall be subject to this act, w herever he m ay be4 ( i)  t h ere shall be an  arm ed force of th e  u nion called th e  special p ro tectio n  g roup for pro v id in g  proxim afte secu rity  to  th e  p rim e  m inister ^5 aiid th e m em bers of his im m ed iate fam ilymembers subject to this actconstitu­ tion of the group(2) s u b ject to th e provisions of th is a ct, <he g roup sh all be consti­tu te d  in such m a n n e r as m ay be p rescrib ed  an d  th e  term s an d  condi­tions of service of th e  m em bers o£ th e  g roup sh all b e such as m ay be prescribed 2q(3) n o tw ith stan d in g  a n y th in g  contained in  th is section, an y  p erson or an y  m em b er of any o th er arm ed  force of th e  u nion m ay  be ap p o in t­ed to th e  g roup b y  th e  c en tral g o v ern m en t by a g en eral o r special o rd e r an d  fo r such perio d  a s m ay b e s t i f l e d  in  such o rd er, a n d  th e  p e r son so appointed shall, d u rin g  th e  perio d  of his appo in tm en t, be deem ed to be a m em b er of th e  g roup, and th e  provisions of th is a ct shall, so fa r as m ay be, ap p ly  to  such person o r m em bercontrol,direction,etc305 (i)  t he g en eral sxiperintendence^ directi|dn an d  oontrol of th e  g roup shall v est in and be exercised by, th e  c en tral g o vernm ent and su b ject th ereto  and to th e  provisions of th is a c t and th e  rules, th e  com m and and supervision of th e g roup sihall vcfet in  an  officer to b e appointed by th e  c en tral g o v ern m en t as th e  d irecto r of th e  g roup (2) t he d irector shall, in th e  discharge of h is d uties u n d e r th is a ct, be assisted by such m u n b er of d ep u ty  d irectors, ai^sisftant d irectors, jo in t a ssistant d irectors and o th er officers as m a y  be ', appointed by  th e c entral g overnm ent -  6 every m em ber of the group shall be liable to serve in any p art of india as w ell as outside india7 every m em ber of the group, not on leave or under suspension, shall, for all purposes of this act, be always on active duty and m ay at ^  any tim e be em ployed or deployed in any m anner w hich is consistent w ith the duties and responsibilities of the g roup under this act8 no m em ber of the g roup shall be at liberty—(a) to resign his appointm ent during the term  of his engage­m ent; or liability for service in and outside india members of the group always on active duty resigna^ tion and w ith­drawal fixmn the post(b) to w ithdraw  him self from  all or any of the duties of his appointm ent,except w ith the previous permission in w riting of the prescribed authorityservice5 9 every m em ber of the group shall hold office during the pleasure tenure olof the president10 (1) no m em ber of the group shall, w ithout the previous sanction in w riting of the central governm ent or of the prescribed authority,—(a) be a m em ber of, or be associated in any way with, any10 trade imion, labour union, political association or w ith any class oftrade unions, labour unions or political associations; orrestric­tions res­pecting right to form asso­ciations, freedom of speechj etc(b) be a m em ber of, or be associated in any way with, any society, institution, association or organisation that is not of a purely social, recreational or religious nature; or15 (c) com m unicate w ith the press or publish or cause to bepublished any book, letter or other document except where such com m unication or pubmcation is in the bona fide discharge of his duties or is of a purely literary, artistic or scientific character or is of a prescribed nature20 explanation—if any question arises as to w hether any society,institution, association or organisation is of a purely social, recrea­tional or religious nature under clause (b) or w hether any book, letter or docum ent is a communication or publication in the bona fide discharge of his duties or is of a purely literary, artistic or25 scientific character or is of a prescribed nature under clause (c), thedecision of the c entral governm ent thereon shall be final(2) no m em ber of the group shall participate in, or address, any m eeting or take part in any dem onstration organised by any body of persons for any political purposes or for such other purposes as may be 30 prescribedtermina­tion of service11 the prescribed authority may, by order in w riting, term inate the appointm ent of any m em ber of the group in the public interest and such term ination shall be deemed to be discharged sim plidter and shall not am ount to dismissal or removalappeal12 (1) any m em ber of the group aggrieved by an order under section11 may, w ithin thirty days from  the date of such order, prefer an appeal to a board to be constituted by the c entral cjovernment(2) the board shall consist of such persons as may be prescribed(3) the decision of the board shall be final and shall not be called 40 in question in any court or tribunal(4) the board shall have power to regulate its own procedure13 the central g overnm ent may, by general or special order publish­ed in the official gazette, direct that, subject to such conditions and lim itations as m ay be specified in that order, any m em ber of the group 45 may exercise or discharge such powers or duties as may be specified in the said order for giving effect to the provisions of this actpowers and duties conferrable on mem­bers of the group14 it shall be th e duty of every m inistry and d epartm ent of the c entral g overnm ent or th e s tate g overnm ent or the union territory a dm inistration, every indian mission, every local or oth er authority or 'ev ery  civil or m ilitary authority to act in aid of th e d irector or any m em ber of the g roup w henever called upon to do so in furtherance of the duties and responsibilities assigned to such d irector or m em berprotection of action taken unde'r this act15 no suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the g roup or any m em ber thereof on whom  powers have been conferred or duties have been im posed under this act, or any order issued or any rule m ade thereunder for anything w hich is in good faith done or pur- 10 ported to be done or om itted to be done in pursuance of this a ct or any order issued or any rule m ade thereunder or any order issued under any such ru le16 (i) the c entral g overnm ent m ay, by notification in the official gazette, m ake rules for carrying out the provisions of this a ct 15power tomakerules(2) in particular and w ithout prejudice to th e generality of the foregoing powjer, such rules m ay provide for all or any of the following m atters, nam ely; —(a) the m anner in w hich th e g roup 5hall be constituted and th e term s and conditions of service of its m em bers under gub-section 20(2) of section 4;(b) th e authorities to be prescribed under section 8, sub-section(1) of section 10 and section 11;(c) the n atu re of th e commtinioation or publication under clause(c) of sub-section (1) of section 18; 25(d) the purposes, other than political purposes, for w hich a person subject to this a ct shall not participate in, or address, any mieeting or take part in any dem onstration under sub-section (2) of section 10;(e) the persons w ho shall be m em bers of the board under sub- 30 section (2 ) of section 12;(f) any other m atter w hich has to be, or m ay be, prescribedlaying of orders and rules17 every order issued under ^ t i o n  13 and every rule m ade under section 16 shall be laid, as soon as m ay be after it is issued or made, before each house of p arliam ent w hile it is in session for a total period of thirty 35 days w hich m ay be comprised in one session or in two or m ore successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session im m ediately following th e session or th e successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agrele in m aking any modification in the order or the rule or both houses agree th at the order or rulie should not be made, th e order or ru le shall there- 4q after have effect only in such modified form  or be of no effect, as the case m ay be; so, how ever, th at any such modification or annulm ent shall be w ithout prejudioe to the validity of anything previously done under th at order or ruleprovision as to existing special protection groupis (f) the special protection group in existence at the commence­m ent of this act shall be deemed to be the group constituted under this act f%(2) the m em bers of the special protection g roup in existence at the 5 com m encem ent of this act shall be deemed to have been appointed as iuch under this act(3) a nything done or any action taken before the commencement of this act in relation to the constitution of the special protection group referred to in sub-section (1) and in relation to any person appointed, 10 shall be as valid and as effective in law  as if such thing or action was done or taken under this actd uring the last few  years, terrorism  has been steadily assum ing m enacing proportions in various p art of the country and abroad in addition to indulging in w anton killings, arson, lootig and other heinous crim es w ith the object to overaw ing the g overnm ent, terrorists aim to destabilise the dem ocratically elected g overnm ent by resorting to selec­tive killing of prom inent m em bers of the public including those w ho are in the g overnm ent d uring the last three years, the present prim e m inister has been under several threats to his life2 w ith a view^ to providing the proxim ate security to the prim e m inister and the m em bers of his im m ediate fam ily, both in india as w ell as abroad, it has been decided to raise a special force accordingly, the special protection g roup was set up in a pril 1985 under the cabinet secretariat3 the special protection g roup is intended to serve as single spe­cialised agency consisting of highly m otivated professionals charged w ith the responsibility of ensuring the proxim ate security of the prim e m inis­ter and the m em bers of his fam ily4 it is essential th at m atters concerning the force should be regula­ted by a self-contained statute w hich w ill also provide the essential legal status to its functioning5 the proposed legislation w ill constitute the force as an arm ed force of the u nion it w ill lay down the term s and conditions of service of the m em bers of the force and provide for its control and direction it has provisions restricting the application of some of the fundam ental rights to the m em bers of the force in so far this is necessary for the m aintenance of discipline k eeping in view, the exclusive task entrus­ted to the force, it is proposed to m ake it obligatory on the part of m inis­ tries and d epartm ents of the c entral and state g overnm ents and the union territories, indian missions abroad and local or other authorities, civil or m ilitary, to act in aid of the g roup 6 the bill seeks to achieve the above objectsn ew d elhi;the 21th april, 1988  p  chidambaram f  resident's recommendation under article 117(3) of the constitution of indfa[copy of letter no 173/s/m o s(pp)/88, dated the 29th april, 1988 from  shri p  chidam baram , m inister of state in the m inistry of person­nel, public grievances and pensions & m inister of state in the m inistry of home affairs to the secretary-g eneral, lok sabha]the president, having been inform ed of the subject m atter of the special protection g roup bill, 1988', recommends to lok sabha the con­sideration of the bill under article 117(3) of the constitutionclause 4 of th« b ill provides for th e constitution of the special p ro­tection group clause 5 provides for appointm ent of the d irector and other officers of th e group2 the special protection g roup w hich was raised for providing proxim ate security to the p rim e m inister and the m em bers of his im m ediate fam ily w ill be deem ed to have been constituted under th e proposed legislation (t?ide clause 18)3 all expenses incurred in connection w ith the adm inistration of this force w ill be m et from  th e consolidated f und of india as the group has already bleen constituted, no additional expenditure of a non-recurring n atu re is likely to be involved w hen th e b ill is enacted and brought into force the recurring expenditure on th e adm inistration of the force d trin g  1987-88 was of the order of rs 4,68,21,570 memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 13 of the bill empowers the c entral g overnm ent to specify by a general or special order published in tiie official gazette, the powers and duties w hich th e members of the group m ay exercise or discharge to give effect to the provisions of the bill2 clause 16 of the bill empowers the central g overnm ent to make rules, by notification in the official gazette, for carrying out the provi­sions of the proposed legislation3 the m atters w ith respect to w hich the orders and rules referred to above m ay be m ade are m atters of procedure or of detail and it m ay not be possible to provide for them  in the b ill itself m oreover, the orders and rules w ill have to be laid before each house of parliam ent and they wiu be subject to the scrutiny of parliam ent4 the delegation of legislative pow er is thus of a norm al character a billto provide for the constitution and regulation of an armed force of the union for providing proximate security to the prime minister of india and the members of his immediate family and for matters •onaected therewith(s/iri p chidambaram, minister of state in the m inistry of personnel, public grievances and pensions & minister of state in the m inistry of home affairs)