18 December,2024 07:29 AM IST | Mumbai | Dharmendra Jore
CM Devendra Fadnavis arrives at Vidhan Bhavan in Nagpur on Thursday. Pic/X
The Maharashtra government has tabled a bill to legislate a law to prevent the unlawful activities of the âUrban Naxals' more effectively.
The bill, the Maharashtra Special Public Security Act, 2024, was put up for the state legislature's perusal on Wednesday. It was also sent to a joint select committee for scrutiny and feedback was sought from members of civil society who want to discuss the matter. Some Opposition members wanted to know why a new Act was needed when existing laws had sufficient powers to tackle extremism.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said states where the new Act was in force had seen good results.
According to the CM, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha had enacted the Public Security Acts to more effectively prevent the unlawful activities of Maoist bodies and 48 banned frontal organisations. In the absence of a similar law in Maharashtra, such organisations are active in the state, Fadnavis stated.
A similar bill was taken up in the last session of the previous government. Since the government's term ended recently, it was tabled afresh.
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Fadnavis said in the statement of objects and reasons (of the bill) that the situation menace of Naxalism was not only limited to remote areas of Maoist-affected states but its presence was increasing in urban areas also through the Naxal-frontal organisations. "The spread of active frontal organisations of Naxal groups gives constant and effective support in terms of logistics and safe refuge to their armed cadres. The seized literature of Naxals shows âsafe houses' and âurban dens' of the Maoist network in cities of the state of Maharashtra," he said.
"The activities of Naxal organisations or similar groups, through their united front, are creating unrest among the common masses to propagate their ideology of armed rebellion against the constitutional mandate and disrupting public order in the state," the CM said further.
Fadnavis said the unlawful activities of such frontal organisations needed to be controlled by effective legal means because the existing laws were ineffective and inadequate to tackle the menace of Naxalism.
"The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India has, in various meetings, issued directions, from time to time, for an implementation mechanism for countering activities of such organisations in urban areas and choking of the flow of funds to them. The Home Ministry has, in the guidelines for Security Related Expenditure to Naxal-affected states, advised the enactment of legislation by the state to tackle unlawful activities of Naxal extremist organisations or similar organisations," Fadnavis stated.
As per the bill, offences under this Act shall be cognisable and non-bailable and shall be registered under the written permission of an officer not below the rank of deputy inspector general of police, who shall also specify the investigating officer. The Act gives the state government power to declare an organisation unlawful. Under the Act, an advisory panel comprising three persons qualified to be appointed as high court judges shall be formed to verify whether or not there is sufficient cause for declaring an organisation unlawful.
The Act also gives the government powers to forfeit funds of an unlawful organisation.