The National Investigation Agency Act, 2008 is an Act of the Indian Parliament that established the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is the principal counter-terrorism law enforcement agency in India. The Act was passed on December 30, 2008, and came into existence on December 31, 2008, following the deadly 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. The core problem it solved was the lack of a specific, centralized body to deal with terror-related activities that often have complex inter-State and international linkages, which existing agencies struggled to track.
The Act's primary mechanism is to empower the NIA to investigate and prosecute a list of Scheduled Offences that affect the sovereignty, security, and integrity of India. The NIA has concurrent jurisdiction, allowing it to investigate these offences in any part of the country without requiring special permission from the State Government. Section 6 of the Act outlines the procedure for the investigation of Scheduled Offences, and Section 11 empowers the Central Government to constitute one or more Special Courts for the trial of these offences. The NIA's powers are similar to those of police officers in relation to investigation, including the power to search, seize, and arrest.
The Act is closely connected to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA), as offences under the UAPA are included in the Schedule of the NIA Act. The National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Act, 2019 significantly changed the original Act. The amendment expanded the list of Scheduled Offences to include human trafficking, offences related to counterfeit currency or banknotes, manufacture or sale of prohibited arms, cyber-terrorism, and offences under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908. Crucially, the 2019 amendment also empowered NIA officers to investigate Scheduled Offences committed outside India, subject to international treaties, with the Special Court in New Delhi having jurisdiction over these cases. The original provision for constituting Special Courts was amended to allow the Central Government to designate existing Sessions Courts as Special Courts for the trial of Scheduled Offences.