Word 'Anti-National' Not Defined in Statutes, Inserted During Emergency: Govt

Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai was answering a question by Asaduddin Owaisi in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The term "anti-national' was not defined in the statutes or the Constitution but was inserted in the latter during the Emergency in 1976, and was omitted the next year, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, 21 December.

The word was introduced into the Constitution by the then Congress regime in 1976 through a Constitutional amendment, he said.

Rai was replying to a question by AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, who had asked whether the government has defined the meaning of "anti-national" under any legislation or rules or any other legal enactment that is enforced in the country.

He had also asked whether the Supreme Court has prescribed any guidelines to deal with crimes relating to "anti-national" activity.