After the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001 , the NDA government passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act . The aim of the act was to improve the government 's ability to deal with terrorism . It initially failed to pass in the Rajya Sabha ; therefore , the NDA took the extraordinary step of convening a joint session of the Parliament , where the numerical superior Lok Sabha allowed the bill to pass . The act was subsequently used to prosecute hundreds of people accused of terrorism . However , it was criticised by opposition parties and scholars for being an infringement upon civil liberties , and the National Human Rights Commission of India stated that it had been used to target Muslims . It was later repealed by the Congress-led UPA government in 2004
terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament
2001 Indian Parliament attack
Bharatiya Janata Party