The government is planning to introduce measures to legally protect its undercover anti-terror operations, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday. Singh, while addressing a security conference, said the Centre is trying to strengthen the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the National Investigation Agency Act. This will include allowing for intelligence collected to be used as evidence and tougher checks on social media.

Singh said, “ The present capabilities of specialised organisations like the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing need to be strengthened.” The government also wants to make evidence obtained through Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties admissible in court.

According to The Indian Express, the move to protect undercover operations is significant as it could allow the government to protect intelligence officers from being prosecuted by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case.