The legal authority and jurisdiction of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), India's central counter-terror and federal investigation agency, as defined by the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, and its 2019 amendment.
- The NIA was created by the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, enacted soon after the 26 November 2008 Mumbai attacks, to investigate and prosecute offences affecting the sovereignty, security and integrity of India.
- It can take up "scheduled offences" (listed in a Schedule to the Act, covering laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Atomic Energy Act, and offences relating to terrorism, weapons and bombing) either on a State referral or on the central government's direction (suo motu power was strengthened by the 2019 amendment).
- It can investigate across State boundaries without needing the prior consent of the State government, which makes it a genuinely federal agency, and the State police are required to extend cooperation.
- The 2019 amendment extended its reach to certain offences committed outside India (against Indians or Indian interests, subject to international law), and added offences such as human trafficking, counterfeit currency and cyber-terrorism to its scope, with Special NIA Courts trying these cases.
- Cases are tried by designated Special Courts, and the NIA functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The NIA's powers are central to internal-security and polity questions; the 2008 Act, the post-26/11 origin, the scheduled-offences mechanism, and the 2019 extension to extraterritorial and new offences are commonly tested.
The NIA investigates and prosecutes terror and national-security offences; it is not an intelligence agency (that role lies with the IB and RAW) and not a strike force (that is the NSG). Unlike the CBI, the NIA generally does not need State consent to investigate scheduled offences.
Federal counter-terror investigation agency under the 2008 Act (strengthened 2019): investigates scheduled offences across States without State consent, tried in Special NIA Courts.