Yogi Adityanath tables controversial bill in UP Assembly

Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government, on Wednesday, tabled the controversial UP Control of Organised Crime Bill 2017 in the UP Assembly.

The bill, which has provisions for stringent laws to check organised crime, was tabled by chief minister Yogi Adityanath. The bill is patterned on the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.

The chief minister said that the proposed law would help in controlling crime and reining in criminals, mafia and land sharks.

The bill has a provision of stringent punishment for people engaged in organized crime with capital punishment accompanied by stiff penalty up to Rs 25 lakh and jail terms ranging from three years to life for other crimes, including possession of unaccountable wealth and harboring of criminals. It also allows seizure of the property of the accused. The bill has 28 additional provisions that are not present in the Gangster Act. Special courts will be set up to hear cases related to UPCOCA. The Opposition parties, however, have decided to oppose the bill. Leader of opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary said, “There are sufficient provision in the IPC to control crime but the government is bringing this draconian legislation to target Muslims, Dalits and weaker sections of society. This law will also be used against political adversaries and also the media”. SP president Akhilesh Yadav said that “UPCOCA was another ‘dhoka’ by the Yogi government which had passed off a furniture cleaning powder as an explosive some time ago”. He apprehended misuse of the proposed law to target political rivals. SP MLA Sanjay Garg said that they would battle out in the state assembly and block passage of the bill in the legislative council where SP enjoyed a majority.

Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati, in a statement on Wednesday, said her party has seen in the past how laws are abused by those in power to quash the dissenting voices, especially of the Dalits and people from the Muslim community. “The bill reflects the anti-minority mindset of the BJP and will be used to jail and torture the Muslims in false cases”, she said.

BSP MLA Mukhtar Ansari said that the provisions of the bill were designed to target opposition members.