Central law enforcement agencies and state police across the country now have the right to arrest members of the organization, freeze its accounts, and even confiscate its assets. Some significant consequences, based on the provisions of the law, that could follow:* Section 10 of the UAPA criminalises membership of a banned organisation. It says that being a member of a banned organization would be punishable by an imprisonment of two years and may extend to life imprisonment and even the death sentence in certain circumstances. * Section 7 of the UAPA gives the government powers to “prohibit use of funds” by an “unlawful association”. These provisions were recently used by agencies to freeze financial and immovable assets of Zakir Naik whose organization the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) was banned by the government in 2016.

Source: Indian Express September 28, 2022 21:08 UTC