State takes a step back on internal security law

MUMBAI: The state government on Friday beat a hasty retreat on its proposed internal security law with CM Devendra Fadnavis giving directives that the controversial

MUMBAI: The state government on Friday beat a hasty retreat on its proposed internal security law with CM Devendra Fadnavis giving directives that the controversial draft would be brought to the cabinet only after it had consulted all political parties and citizens.

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Fadnavis’ decision comes on the day ally Shiv Sena joined the Opposition, terming the draft law as more drastic than the emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi in 1975, in its party mouthpiece, Saamna. “On the instructions of the CM, it has been decided to place the draft of the proposed law before an all-party committee for discussion. The proposed draft will then be discussed in the cabinet, after which public suggestions and objections will be invited. The final accepted draft will then be sent to the state legislature after approval of the cabinet,’’ said additional chief secretary (home) KP Bakshi, in a statement.

The draft of the Maharashtra Protection of Internal Security Act was put in the public domain on Saturday. It quickly caught flak from activists and the Opposition, who termed it ‘draconian’. HT was the first newspaper to point out controversial provisions. (see box)

While Fadnavis plans to convene a meeting with group leaders of all the political parties this month to work out a compromise, the damage has been done.

This is the second time in the past one-and-a-half years that the home department led by Fadnavis has been in a soup for proposing a rule or in this case a law interpreted as ‘authoritarian’. Last year, the department was forced to take back a circular on sedition that said critiquing police or public representatives could be treated as treason. At the time, the department had put it down to a translation error. This time, the ‘goof ups’ can’t be called just drafting errors.

It would point to a lapse of judgment on the part of the department, besides a lack of deliberations about a law that proposes severe penalties with maximum punishment of a life sentence.

Government sources admitted the draft indicated proper deliberations had not been carried out. “It was drafted by senior police officers and continues to have their slant. It should have gone through deliberations at the state level, with security experts and with the law and judiciary. The intention behind the law was to protect critical infrastructure and sectors vulnerable to terror,’’ said a senior bureaucrat.

Bakshi, who was asked to take a press conference on Wednesday, also couldn’t address the criticism effectively. He said the draft had taken a page from the Andhra Pradesh Public Safety Act of 2013 that is focused on securing critical and high footfall areas. The state draft, however, says it is aimed at tackling challenges of internal security from terrorism to caste violence and making critical infrastructure more secure is only one of the aspects of this law.

“We question the intent of the government. The Andhra Pradesh law is clearly centered around public safety. This draft is ostensibly aimed at tackling insurgency and terror, but seems to be targeting public right to protest, assemble and even entertain,’’ said Sachin Sawant, Congress spokesperson.