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Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Tuesday said that the apprehensions of the governments of West Bengal and Punjab on the extension of the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) are "ill-founded".
He also justified the extension and said that it would result in "better and more effective control on trans-border crimes in conjunction and co-operation with the state police". In a written reply, Rai told Lok Sabha that the Centre amended the 2014 notifications to extend the jurisdiction of the BSF from 15 km to 50 km in certain states, including West Bengal and Punjab, through a notification on October 11, 2021. Rai informed that Section 139(1) (i) of the BSF Act, 1968 empowers the Central Government to confer powers and duties on members of the force in respect of any Central Acts for the purposes specified therein. "Government of West Bengal and Government of Punjab have expressed their apprehension that such a move encroaches upon the powers of the State Government. Their apprehensions are ill-founded," he said. "The extension of territorial jurisdiction of BSF would result in better and more effective control on trans-border crimes in conjunction and co-operation with State Police," Rai added. (ANI)
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