The Uttar Pradesh government is planning on introducing a law for withdrawing “politically-motivated” cases that have been registered against legislators, ministers and other officials across parties, chief minister Yogi Adityanath informed the assembly this week.
The proposed law intends to end nearly 20,000 cases that have been registered across the state. However the Chief Minister failed to elaborate how the cases would be identified as being political in nature.
In a discussion regarding the controversial new bill, Uttar Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Bill (UPCOCB) 2017, Adityanath said that cases were registered against state legislators and ministers for holding protests and warrants had been issued merely for not appearing before the courts
According to him, the proposed law will close all cases filed against leaders of all parties that are political in nature. He has however not provided details on which 20,000 cases will be withdrawn in the state.
UPCOCB Aimed At Reducing Crime, Will Not Be Misused
The Chief Minister also assured the assembly that the UPCOCB, which has been introduced to curb organized crime and terror, will not be misused.
He emphasised that the government was focused on providing security to people. He further added that the opposition parties were making statements against the proposed law, stating that opposing the law would mean “defending those indulging in organised crime.”
The new law has been developed by a high-powered committee, comprising senior officers from the state home department and the police, after studying the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) as well as a draft bill introduced by the central government.
Speaking against the bill, leader of the opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary of the Samajwadi Party said it would result in an ‘undeclared emergency’ and will target the media.
Law Will Bring Back Emergency-like Situation
Chaudhary alleged that newspapers and newschannels will need to “take prior permission from the police” for publishing news, noting that similar restrictions had been “imposed on the media during the Emergency.”
Chaudhary also referred the objections made earlier by BJP leaders Suresh Khanna and Hukum Singh when the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government had introduced a similar law in 2007.
