Good intelligence will indeed be essential if fresh terrorist attacks are to be preempted and the terrorist organisations - not just al Qaeda but its off shoots and imitators - are to be destroyed on a long-term basis. At the same time, any intelligence agency within a democracy must adhere to other standards – democracies must live up to the high standards of their own liberal rhetoric uphold the ideas of democracy, liberty, and human rights universally rather than selectively and at a time when tightening up on security is necessary.  Taking into account the growing threat of international terrorism, there are significant grounds for doubting whether legal safeguards and oversee and review mechanisms have kept pace with the developing methods and capacities of the intelligence community.

In some areas, there are laws and executive orders that apply, but these have been slow in coming and do not cover the wide range of moral issues our intelligence personnel encounter. In India, particularly, it is clear that we must do better. With our national security at stake, it is essential to have a serious non- partisan debate, find an acceptable middle ground, and give our spies the unambiguous guidelines they so urgently need.