NEW DELHI, March 26 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A tough new anti-terrorist law introduced by the Indian government was adopted Tuesday during a rare joint session of parliament.

The Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) was passed by 425 to 296 during the third joint session of the upper and lower houses of parliament since independence in 1947. The session lasted nine hours. The two previous joint sessions of the Indian Parliament were held in 1961 and 1978.

The opposition, calling it “draconian”, said that POTO, which gives the police sweeping powers of arrest and interrogation, could be used to oppress political opponents as well as India's Muslim minority.

Opposition lawmakers protest in New Delhi's parliament against government's handling of religious riots in Gujurat.

The government claimed the law was needed in the interests of India's security, especially following the September 11 attacks in the U.S., the militant attack on parliament in New Delhi on December 13 and a "proxy war" carried out by Pakistan for the past 15 years, particularly in Kashmir.

"We cannot score a decisive victory against terrorism unless special laws like this are adopted," Home Minister L.K. Advani told the joint session.

POTO contains stringent measures to curb funding, confiscate property and intercept communications of any suspected terror groups, and allows the detention of a suspect for up to 90 days without trial.

The provisions of the bill have been in force under a presidential ordinance for several months - notably in battered independence-seeking Kashmir - but it stood to lapse on April 6 if not passed by parliament.

The day-long debate was marked by frayed tempers and emotional scenes as Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee rejected accusations that he was pushing through the bill under pressure from Hindu extremists.

"I am not under any pressure from anybody," Vajpayee said. "If I was, my allies and colleagues in government would have deserted me," reported BBC’s online news service.

The charge was led by opposition leader Sonia Gandhi, who accused the government of seeking to exploit the constitution.

Earlier Tuesday, Sonia Gandhi slammed the government for trying to subvert the constitution and violate basic human rights by forcing through a controversial anti-terrorism law, news agencies reported.

Gandhi said POTO was aimed at providing the government with an instrument to suppress political opponents, religious minorities and ethnic groups.

"There is neither moral integrity nor sincerity of purpose among those trying to force this law on the nation," Gandhi said, quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We are here today because the government wants to exploit the constitution," Gandhi said, accusing Vajpayee of turning parliament into a rubber stamp body. "The government is using every device to arm itself with the menacing power of POTO ... to subvert the very spirit of the constitutionism," she added.

Gandhi argued that POTO not only violated the basic human rights of individuals but had also proved ineffective in combating terrorism.

"POTO has been selectively used and misused in the last few months ... to ban organizations in a partisan manner," Gandhi said. "It poses a larger threat to the freedom of ordinary people than to terrorists," she added.

Gandhi particularly highlighted the use of POTO in the security crackdown that followed the recent outbreak of Hindu-Muslim violence in the western state of Gujarat that claimed around 700 lives. 

While the provision was used to detain a large number of Muslims, not a single Hindu was picked up under POTO, AFP reported.

Last week, the lower house of parliament approved the bill, but it was rejected by the upper house three days later.   

The government's response was to call the joint session of parliament, knowing that it could count on a comfortable majority once the votes of both houses were merged.