The Hindu : National : Lok Sabha passes Bill to repeal POTA

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Tuesday, Dec 07, 2004

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National

Lok Sabha passes Bill to repeal POTA

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 6. The new law to tackle terrorism, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Bill, was today approved by the Lok Sabha. The House also gave its approval to the Bill to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA).

The move to repeal POTA was opposed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies who walked out in protest as the Bill was being taken up for consideration. The Government also had to withstand intense pressure from its allies like the Left parties, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), who wanted the Bill to Amend the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act to be referred to the Standing Committee. The SP and the BSP walked out in protest, while the Left parties abstained from voting on the passage of the Bill. "We do not approve of the manner in which the Government has gone about the whole affair," said Gurudas Das Gupta of the Communist Party of India (CPI).

Facing embarrassment

While the Government had little trouble in getting the approval of the House to pass the Bill to repeal POTA, it faced some embarrassment on the Unlawful Activities Prevention Bill. The Left, the SP, and the BSP were of the view that the Bill contained certain provisions that were similar in nature to POTA and were likely to be misused. They urged the Government to refer the Bill to the House committee, so that it could be studied in detail and suitable amendments suggested.

The Government pleaded with its supporting parties to help pass the Bill, as the Ordinance to Amend the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act would lapse if it was not passed within this session of Parliament. The Leader of the House, Pranab Mukherjee and the Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, who piloted the Bill, promised to hold detailed consultations with the members after the passage of the Bill and to incorporate new amendments, if needed.

Their appeal only had a limited affect.

In his ruling, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Somnath Chatterjee, said that though personally he was in favour of all Bills being sent to the respective Standing Committees, in the present case, given the fact that it had to be passed within the Winter session itself, he was in favour of it being passed today itself.

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