Dinesh Trivedi, Naveen Patnaik, Manmohan Singh

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 28: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today accused the Centre of trying to encroach on the powers of the states by proposing an amendment to the Railway Protection Force (RPF) Act, 1957.

Drawing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s attention to the issue through a letter, Naveen said the proposed amendment to the act, which had reportedly been approved by the home ministry and the ministry of law and justice, was in conflict with Article 246 of the Indian Constitution.

“Public order and police are state subjects and taking up amendment on any of these subjects under entry 22, 30 and 93 of the union list and entry 2 of the concurrent list without consulting the state governments is a clear infringement of the powers of the state and against the basic federal structure of our constitution,” the chief minister said in the letter, his third to the Prime Minister in the last two weeks.

Questioning the rationale behind the proposed amendment, Naveen expressed concern over the move to provide police powers to the RPF, describing it as a violation of the Indian Police Act. “I also understand that the proposed amendment seeks to provide powers of police officers to the RPF personnel. This, in itself, is violative of the provisions of the Indian Police Act, 1861,” he said.

“The justification being advanced by the ministry of railways for conferring powers of police officers on the RPF personnel, so that they can conduct investigations and make arrests is not at all convincing. The railway tracks are not outside the jurisdiction of the states through which they run. Similar arguments could be put forth by other establishments such as the Central Industrial Security Force, which are in charge of protection of airports, industrial undertakings and other vital installations,” the letter stated.

Accusing the Centre of taking steps that went against the country’s federal structure and the interest of the people, the chief minister urged the Prime Minister to intervene and advise the ministry of railways not to proceed any further in the matter.

The chief minister’s missive, of which a copy has also been sent to Union railway minister Dinesh Trivedi, who belongs to the Trinamul Congress, is likely to intensify the current debate over the Centre-state relations.

Naveen was the first chief minister to take up the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) issue with the Centre alleging that it had vested sweeping powers in the anti-terror body without consulting the states which ran against the constitution’s federal spirit.

Soon chief ministers from several others states, including Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Bihar, rallied behind Naveen, giving jitters to the Congress-led UPA and forcing it to put the move on hold. The UPA has assured the states that their concerns in the mater would be taken into account.