India: Communal Violence Bill to be introduced in upcoming winter session of Parliament

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Communal Violence Bill to be introduced in upcoming winter session of Parliament

By Aman Sharma, ET Bureau |

NEW DELHI: The home ministry plans to introduce a revised Communal Violence Bill in the upcoming winter session of Parliament next month, but there is little likelihood of passage of the proposed law because the government has done little to address the concerns of the principal opposition in the new draft. A revised bill, titled 'Communal Violence (Prevention and Control) Act, 2013', will be introduced in the winter session, a senior minister told ET. 

The BJP had earlier described the legislation as "draconian", saying it pre-supposes the majority community as the tormentor during riots. The few changes in the new bill are not expected to please BJP, admitted the minister, who did not wish to be named. "But in the current environment of divisive polity after the Muzaffarnagar communal riots, it has been decided that the Communal Violence Bill will be brought to Parliament this time. 

We know BJP will not allow the bill to be passed as Congress does not have the numbers in the Rajya Sabha but the government will still score a political point by introducing a bill that seeks to protect minorities during communal riots and the opposition will have to later explain why it had blocked the legislation," the minister said. 

Along with the bill on granting statehood to Telangana, the Communal Violence Bill is a major pending legislation of the home ministry, the minister said. The upcoming session is the last opportunity for the government to introduce the politically significant bill, which was also studied by the Congress President Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Committee (NAC). "The bill, hence, will be a priority in the winter session, which is the last in the tenure of UPA-II. 




The bill had its genesis way back in the tenure of UPA-1," the minister said. Home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had earlier this month asked his ministry's bureaucrats to give the final shape to this bill in the wake of the riots in Uttar Pradesh that are also top on the agenda of anIntelligence Bureau conference with the state director generals of police from Thursday. 

The amended bill will replace the 'Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill, 2005', which was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on December 5, 2005. A Cabinet note to this effect is under preparation, a home ministry official said. 

"The new bill has been made concise and aseparate chapter added on protection of victims and witnesses. The preamble of the bill remains unchanged and if someone reads it carefully, people will realise there is nothing constitutionally wrong with the bill," the official said.