Armed Forces ( Special Powers ) Act , 1958 The Armed Forces ( Special Powers ) Act was passed on September 11 , 1958 by the Parliament of India . It was passed to enable certain special powers to be conferred upon the armed forces in disturbed areas in the states of Arunachal Pradesh , Assam , Manipur , Meghalaya , Mizoram , Nagaland and Tripura . It was withdrawn by the Manipur government in some of the constituencies in August 2004 in spite of the Central government not favouring withdrawal of the act . According to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act ( AFSPA ) , in an area that is proclaimed as “disturbed” , an officer of the armed forces has powers to : ( a ) fire upon or use other kinds of force even if it causes death ; ( b ) to arrest without a warrant and with the use of “necessary” force anyone who has committed certain offences or is suspected of having done so ; and ( c ) to enter and search any premise in order to make such arrests . Army officers have legal immunity for their actions . There can be no prosecution , suit or any other legal proceeding against anyone acting under that law . Nor is the government’s judgment on why an area is found to be disturbed subject to judicial review . External links Wikisource has original text related to this article : Armed Forces ( Special Powers ) Act Coverage on website of South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre `` Armed Forces Act to go from Imphal `` - rediff.com article dated August 12 , 2004 Categories : Indian Army Armed Forces ( Special Powers ) Act 