Gujarat adopts stringent anti-terror Bill - Chandigarh Tribune

The BJP government in Gujarat pushed through an anti-terror Bill in the state Assembly today that tends to contradict the basic tenets of the law, “one is deemed innocent till proven guilty”.

The objects of the “Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GCTOC) Bill”, adopted by the state Assembly in the absence of the opposition on the last day of the Budget session today, said, “The Special Courts shall presume, unless it is proven to the contrary, that the accused has committed such offence.”

Presented with a different nomenclature but only after incorporating all the controversial provisions that earlier were rejected twice by the Presidents of India when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief minister of the state, it also imposed stringent provisions in granting bails by the courts to the accused under the measure.

The Section 20 (4) of the Bill said “no accused person in this Act shall be released on bail or on his own bond unless the public prosecutor has been given an opportunity to oppose the application, the special court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that accused is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail”.

All-pervasive in its scope, the Bill provides the police with complete powers to tap personal phones, wires, messages, without permission and detain people without following standard procedures.

It also provides for making “confessional statements” made before the police not below the rank of an SP, as admissible evidence before the court, contrary to the provisions under the existing law that only the statements made before a magistrate be considered as an evidence in the trial.

The Anandiben Patel government, however, justified the stringent provisions stating that the existing legal frame work like the penal and procedural laws and adjudicatory system have been found to be inadequate to curb or control the menace of terror activities or organised crime.

“It was, therefore, considered necessary to enact a special law with stringent and deterrent provisions”, Minister of State for Home Rajnikant Patel, who piloted the Bill, said.

Justifying the provision of the telephonic interceptions and similar measures, he said. “This is necessary in these times where organised criminal syndicates make extensive use of wire and oral communication”. The objects of the Bill read, “The interception of such communication to obtain evidence is inevitable and an indispensable aid for the law enforcement”.

All these controversial provisions had earlier found place in the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime (GUJCOC) which was passed by the state Assembly first time in 2004 when Modi was the chief minister but was returned by the then President APJ Abdul Kalam. It was re-adopted incorporating some amendments recommended by the Centre in 2009 but stopped again by the then President Pratibha Patil as it refused to remove the provision of considering statement before the police as confessional evidence.

The Bill has been passed by the state Assembly the third time without any change but is still pending before the President. Modi had often targeted the UPA government at the Centre calling it “terrorist-friendly” for its refusal to allow Presidential assent to the GUJCOC. The Congress opposed the controversial provisions and demanded the government to drop from the Bill those contrary to the existing law but on being refused by the treasury benches, the Opposition walked out of the House.