Kolkata, Sept. 25 -- West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday night sought to put to rest reports that the state's Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Bill, popularly known as the 'Goonda Bill', had been returned by President Droupadi Murmu.
Adhikari claimed that the Bill was still under consideration by the Union Home Ministry and had not yet been sent to the President. He said consultations at the joint secretary level were currently underway.
Calling the reports "false news", Adhikari said misinformation was being spread about the Bill. He made the remarks at a Press meet at Nabanna on Friday night, where he was accompanied by DGP Siddh Nath Gupta and Home Secretary Sanghamitra Ghosh.
Adhikari said: "Baseless news and rumours are being spread about this Bill. Those who are afraid of this Bill are getting pleasure from spreading these."
He claimed that this Bill did not reach the President through the Home Ministry. The Home Ministry also did not seek any explanation from the West Bengal Government.
Adhikari claimed that it is surprising that the news has come out. He said that to get the assent of the President for any Bill, it has to go through the Home Ministry. He claimed that this Bill had two parts. The threefold proposal of confiscation of property has been implemented. And the remaining part will also be implemented.
The CM said the Bill had not been sent to the President through the Union Home Ministry and that consultations at the joint-secretary level were still underway, as both the Home and Law Ministries are to be consulted.
"There has been no such communication from the Centre. The Bill is under consideration of the Home Ministry. "Media reports suggesting that it had been returned by the President are baseless," the CM said and added that it was "fake news".
The CM also rejected reports that the Bill had received any adverse concurrence from the "highest authority", describing such claims as "rumours and fake".
The CM said the legislation has two distinct components. "While one portion relates to provisions intended to prevent misuse of powers in the future, another deals with provisions concerning confiscation of property," he said.
The CM also said the state government's objective was to make certain criminal provisions non-bailable, which was why the Bill had been sent for approval by the highest authority.
As under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), it is a bailable section, the CM added.
Adhikari said that the Kerala and Andhra Pradesh governments had also sought the President's approval to include a non-bailable clause in such bills.
The CM maintained that there was no question of treating the reported development as a setback for West Bengal since the Bill remains under consideration at the Centre.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, citing media reports about the President returning the Bill, Mamata Trinamool national general secretary and party MP Abhishek Banerjee, on social media, said that though the BJP claims double engine in Bengal, but in reality it is "reverse gear in governance".
Even another party MP Kalyan Banerjee made a dig at the state government and described it as an erroneous Bill and said that, if enacted, it would lead many BJP leaders and police officers to jail.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.