The Home Ministry has kept “in abeyance” its order that empowered the Assam Rifles, deployed along the Myanmar border, to arrest anyone and search a place without a warrant in the border districts of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram.

The notification was withheld after Opposition parties moved an adjournment motion against the order in the Assam Assembly. The Ministry said the matter would be “revisited in consultation with the State governments”.

The notification said “an officer of the rank corresponding to that of the lowest rank of members of the Assam Rifles” would have the powers under the CrPC.

It is not clear why the notification included Assam, as the State does not share its border with Myanmar. The Assam Rifles has power to detain anyone where Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) is in place. But it was finding it difficult to operate in Mizoram, which is not covered by the AFSPA. The entire Assam is under the Act. The Assam Rifles, a Central armed police force, is under the administrative control of the Home Ministry and the operational control of the Army.

The Assam Rifles Act was amended in 2006, the powers under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) earlier available to it under the Assam Rifles Act, 1941, were not restored.

The 13 years after the Act was amended, the issue has acquired urgency for effective enforcement of the Free Movement Regime along the Myanmar border (on the 16 km belt on either side).
The Free Movement Regime was streamlined after the bilateral agreement between India and Myanmar on Land Border Crossing was finalised in 2018.
“This will require giving suitable powers to Border Guarding Forces under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and Passport Act, 1967 and Passport Entry into India Act, 1920,”