The Home Ministry has constituted an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal to determine

An illegal Activities (Prevention) Tribunal has been established by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to decide if there is enough evidence to designate the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), together with all of its branches, front organizations, and factions, to be an illegal association.

According to a notice published in the MHA’s gazette, Justice Michael Zothankhuma of the Gauhati High Court would serve as the tribunal’s chairman.

Subsection (1) of Section 5 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967) granted the MHA the authority to take action.

Nearly a month after extending the ULFA’s five-year ban for its participation in attempting to separate Assam from India and maintaining ties with other insurgent organizations for the purposes of violence and extortion, MHA made the decision to establish the tribunal.

The ban was first imposed on the group in 1990, and it has since been repeatedly renewed. On November 27, 2019, it was last prohibited under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967.

In a notice released at the end of November, the MHA explicitly declared that the ULFA and all of its branches, sections, and front groups were engaged in activities that were detrimental to India’s sovereignty and integrity, even as it extended the ban.

“ULFA has maintained ties with other insurgent organizations for violence and extortion, stated its goal to separate Assam from India, and persisted in intimidating people and demanding money for their organization. According to the notification, the group has illegally obtained firearms and ammunition, engaged in 16 criminal cases, including multiple explosions and explosives plantings in Assam between November 27, 2019, and July 1, 2024, and planted multiple improvised explosive devices or explosives throughout Assam in the lead-up to Independence Day, 2024.

The MHA went on to say that over the previous five years, 15 cases were filed against ULFA cadres, three chargesheets were submitted, three cadres were prosecuted, and three ULFA hardline cadres were slain in police or security force action.

It said that 56 of the group’s cadres had been detained and 63 had been turned over, adding that the group was implicated in 27 other illegal actions. According to the Ministry, in addition to 27 weapons, 550 bullets, nine grenades, and two improvised explosive devices were found in the ULFA members’ hands.

“Now, therefore, in the exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967), the central government hereby declares the ULFA along with all its factions, wings and front organisations as an unlawful association for five years with effect from November 27, 2024,” the notification that was previously mentioned.

According to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967, ULFA is one of the 17 organizations that are presently listed by MHA as unlawful groups.

The Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), the Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA) and its political wing, the Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF), the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and its armed wing, the Manipur Peoples’ Army (MPA), the Peoples’ Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) and its armed wing, the “Red Army,” the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) and its armed wing, also known as the “Red Army,” Kanglei Yaol Kanba Lup (KYKL), the Coordination Committee (CorCom), and the Alliance for Socialist Unity Kangleipak (ASUK) are among the other organizations listed as unlawful associations under the UAPA.

In addition, the MHA has declared several organizations to be unlawful associations, including the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) [NSCN (K)], Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), Jammu and Kashmir; Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (Mohd, Yasin Malik faction); Sikhs for Justice (SFJ); Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliates or fronts, including Rehab India Foundation (RIF), Campus Front of India (CFI), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Confederation of Human Rights Organization (NCHRO), National Women’s Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation, and Rehab Foundation, Kerala.

Other organizations identified as illegal associations under the UAPA include Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, Jammu and Kashmir (TeH), Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarat Alam faction) (MLJK-MA), and Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP).

The Central Government may designate any organization as an illegal association, with nationwide effect, in the exercise of the authority granted by Sub-Section (1) of Section 3 of the illegal Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967).