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Gujarat assembly passes bill for amending law, drops terrorism-related provisions
The state law earlier covered both terrorism and organised crime as the Indian Penal Code (IPC) did not have a clearly defined framework for terrorism
The Gujarat legislative assembly on Wednesday unanimously passed a bill for amending an existing law to drop terrorism-related provisions from it.
The Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (Amendment) Bill, 2026 was introduced by minister Arjun Modhwadia on behalf of Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi, and it was supported by the opposition Congress.
The assembly passed two key amendment Bills, one restructuring the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GUJCTOC) law by removing terrorism provisions and another amending the Gujarat Disturbed Areas Act to replace the term disturbed areas with designated areas and expand the powers of district collectors over property transactions in such areas.
The assembly passed the GUJCTOC (Amendment) Bill, 2026, under which all provisions related to terrorism have been removed from the state law, restricting the Act only to organised crime, as terrorism offences are now covered under central criminal law.
The amendment was passed without opposition and aligns the state law with the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA).
The government said the amendment was required to align the state law with the new central criminal laws and avoid duplication of investigation and prosecution in terrorism cases.
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References to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) have been replaced with the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and references to the Indian Evidence Act have been replaced with the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam to align the state law with new central criminal laws.
According to the government statement in the assembly, the amendment removes the words “terrorism” and “terrorist act” from the title, definitions and several sections of the Act and limits the law only to organised crime. Since the amendment removes the word terrorism from the title itself, the law will effectively function as the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Act after the amendment, though it originates from the earlier GUJCTOC law.
The assembly also passed an amendment Bill to the Gujarat Disturbed Areas Act, under which the term “disturbed areas” will now be replaced with “designated areas” in the law and official notifications, effectively changing the terminology used for such notified areas.
Minister of state (MoS) for revenue Sanjay Singh Mahida said the main objective of the amendments is to prevent distress migration of property owners from designated areas and to protect the interests of lawful property owners. The amendments mainly relate to transfer of immovable property in notified areas and strengthening the regulatory mechanism governing such transfers.
Under the amendments, any person residing in a designated area will now be able to make a representation before the collector to protect their interests regarding property transactions.
The district collector will also have suo motu powers to initiate an inquiry into property transfers in designated areas or act on an application by an aggrieved person. If a property transfer is found to be objectionable or in violation of the law, the collector will have the authority to take possession of the property for protection.
A provision has also been added to allow property owners in designated areas to mortgage their property with financial institutions to obtain loans or financial assistance, which the government said would help prevent distress sale of property due to financial difficulties. The process for declaring designated areas has also been strengthened, with a special investigation team studying the ground situation before an area is notified.
