New Delhi, April 30
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday made it clear that a compromise formula has been worked out to settle the raging dispute between the Centre and states over setting up of National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC).

Faced with stinging criticism from the BJP-ruled states and also UPA ally Mamata Banerjee for allegedly trying to weaken the federal structure, Chidambaram hoped that the formula would be acceptable to states.

The Prime Minister will inaugurate the special meeting of Chief Ministers on May 5 to address the concerns raised by the states. The NCTC was to start for March 1, however, it was kept in abeyance following protests from states.

Chidambaram said a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) have been circulated to states. “Much of their (CMs) doubts will be resolved after reading the SOPs. And if they have any suggestions on the SOPs, we are willing to listen and incorporate them”, the Home Minister said. One of the objections raised by states and several experts (The Tribune had run a special debate in which leading security experts had expressed their views) was to give powers of arrest to the NCTC, a body that will work directly under the Intelligence Bureau.

The Section 3.2 of the February 3 office order says officers of the operations division of NCTC shall have the power to arrest and the power to search under Section 43A of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). This section was opposed by the non-Congress Chief Ministers - Odisha's Naveen Patnaik, Tamil Nadu's J Jayalalitha, Gujarat's Narendra Modi, Bihar's Nitish Kumar & UPA ally and West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee - alleging that by vesting such powers on NCTC, the Centre was trying to curb states' powers.

after reading the SOPs. And if they have any suggestions on the SOPs, we are willing to listen and incorporate them”, the Home Minister said. One of the objections raised by states and several experts (The Tribune had run a special debate in which leading security experts had expressed their views) was to give powers of arrest to the NCTC, a body that will work directly under the Intelligence Bureau.

The Section 3.2 of the February 3 office order says officers of the operations division of NCTC shall have the power to arrest and the power to search under Section 43A of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). This section was opposed by the non-Congress CMs — Odisha's Naveen Patnaik, Tamil Nadu's J Jayalalitha, Gujarat's Narendra Modi, Bihar's Nitish Kumar & UPA ally and West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee — alleging that by vesting such powers on NCTC, the Centre was trying to curb states' powers.

Sources said one of the key compromise formula is that the powers to arrest and conduct operations will now jointly lie with the state police and the NCTC, which will intervene in rare cases when immediate action is needed. Even after doing that it will immediately inform the state police chief. The Home Ministry has proposed that the NCTC would “as far as possible” keep the heads of the state police and anti-terror squads informed about its operations in advance. The SOPs list powers and functions of the anti-terror hub's Standing Council, which will have representatives of all state governments and the Centre. The Home Minister said if the NCTC comes into existence, it would help in dealing with hostage situations in a better way.