Report No. 43
7.54. Section 4(2).-
Section 4(2) contains a variety of provisions relevant for decision of the question whether a person can be said to have been in communication with a foreign agent within the meaning of sub-section (1). Two of the provisions contain rebuttable presumptions, and one provision is in the nature of a definition applicable in construing one of the rebuttable presumptions.
Under clause (a) of the sub-section, a person "may be presumed to have in communication with a foreign agent" if
(i) he has, either within or without India, visited the address of a foreign agent or consorted or associated with a foreign agent, or
(ii) either within or without India, the name or address of, or any other information regarding, a foreign agent has been found in his possession, or has been obtained by him from any other person.
Under clause (b), the expression "foreign agent" includes any person who employs or has been employed, or in respect of whom it appears that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting him of being or having been employed, by a foreign power, either directly or indirectly, for the purpose of committing an act, either within or without India, prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State. It includes also a person who, has or is reasonably suspected of having either within or without India, committed, or attempted to commit, such an act in the interests of a foreign power.
Under clause (c) any address, whether within or without India, in respect of which it appears that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting it of being an address used for the receipt of communications intended for a foreign agent, or any address at which a foreign agent resides, or to which he resorts for the purpose of giving or receiving communications, or at which he carries on any business, "may be presumed" to be the address of a foreign agent, and communications addressed to such an address to be communications with a foreign agent.
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