About the National Investigation Agency (NIA):
- NIA functions as the Central Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency of India.
- It also aims to set the standards of excellence in counter-terrorism and other national security-related investigations at the national level with an oriented workforce.
- Parent Ministry: Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
- Establishment: NIA was created after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks with the enactment of the National Investigation Agency Act 2008.
- Jurisdiction:
- The agency is empowered to deal with terror-related crimes across states without special permission from the states.
- It works under a written proclamation from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The NIA ensures effective and speedy trials in the cases.
- A State Government may request the Central Government to hand over the investigation of a case to the NIA, provided the case has been registered for the offences as contained in the schedule of the NIA Act.
- The Central government can ask the NIA to take over the investigation of any scheduled offence anywhere across the nation.
- According to the National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Act, 2019, officers of the NIA will have the power to investigate scheduled offences committed outside India, subject to international treaties and domestic laws of other countries.
- Offices:
- While the headquarters is situated in New Delhi, NIA has several 12 Branch offices across the country.
- The other branches are based in Hyderabad, Guwahati, Kochi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Kolkata, Raipur, Jammu, Chandigarh, Ranchi, Chennai and Imphal.
