The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Centre and nine naxal-affected states, on a PIL seeking direction to the governments to formulate a central policy for handling the menace of Naxalism. A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam sought response from the Centre and states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. The court passed the order on a plea filed by an ex-MLA of the Samajwadi Party yesterday, saying a central regulation is needed to handle naxalite activities which are causing a serious threat to the security of the country.
The petition said that despite conceptualization of the Integrated Action Plan for dealing with naxal issues, there is a strong divergence between the Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Home Affairs over its implementation that needs to be sorted out.