The chief minister, who also heads the state home department and law & judiciary department, tabled the bill in the Lower House.
Mumbai: In a bid to combat “Left Wing Extremism” and its spread and support in the urban areas in the state, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Thursday passed Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill 2024 by majority as Communist Party of India (Marxist)Vinod Nikole opposed the bill. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis assured the legislative Assembly that this Act would not be misused. Mr. Fadnavis also said that the Act is not against any left parties including CPI and CPI (Marxist).
The chief minister, who also heads the state home department and law & judiciary department, tabled the bill in the Lower House. He said that the state law is more progressive than enactments made in the other four states, namely Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, which are battling Maoists extremism.
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Odisha have already implemented Public Security Acts to prevent unlawful activities.
Mr. Fadnavis said that former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had brought out a notification to ban CPI (Maoist) in 2009. Post this, the CPI (Maoist) was banned. He also explained the term Left Wing Extremist organisation has nothing to do with CPI, CPI (Marxist). He also pointed out that Urban Maoist term was used during the UPA government on February 18, 2014.
Explaining the operative parts of the Bill, the chief minister said that no individual entity can be arrested. The person will have to be a part of the banned organisation. “We can’t arrest someone for speaking against the government. There is no such provision in the Bill. Even if we try to do so, such an Act will not sustain (in judicial review),” he said.
Urging the Assembly to pass the bill, Mr Fadnavis said that Maharashtra has 64 banned organisations, which is the highest in the country. But the state government can’t do anything in the absence of a special law, he said.
The Bill was first introduced last year. Following the uproar over the bill, the government had constituted a Joint Committee consisting of members from both Houses of the Legislature headed by chairman Chandrashekhar Bawankule to review the bill. The committee had suggested four additions in the Bill and submitted its report to the government.
