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Chhattisgarh Act will curtail fundamental rights: Study

Siddharth Narrain

"It gives the State Government power to notify an organisation as `unlawful' without disclosing reasons for it"

NEW DELHI: A study of the recently passed Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act (CSPSA), 2005, conducted by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) says that the law has the potential to throttle free speech, legitimate dissent and threaten the existence of civil society organisations in the State. Urging the Chhattisgarh Legislature to repeal the legislation, CHRI said that that the response to insurgency in the State must be conditioned by the Government's duty to uphold constitutional rights.

The CSPSA provides for up to seven years' imprisonment for committing an "unlawful activity". The CHRI study points out that "unlawful activity" has been defined loosely and imprecisely. The definition includes committing acts, uttering words, writing or making visual representations that may "create risk or danger for public order, peace and public tranquillity" or "impede the administration of law or institutions". The study said that this definition of "unlawful activities" threatens the free exercise of fundamental freedom of speech and expression and appears to restrict the right to hold public meetings, organise public protests, and oppose government policies through the media.

CHRI's study says that under the CSPSA any organisation can be declared "unlawful" on the grounds that that it is involved in committing "unlawful activity" or if its objective is to encourage, assist, or induce the same. The CSPSA gives the State Government the power to notify an organisation as "unlawful" without disclosing reasons for the notification. Once an organisation is declared "unlawful" under the Act, the State Government can seize its funds and premises, and its members can be imprisoned for up to three years.

Under the Act, a person is liable for punishment even if he were a member of the organisation, participated in its meetings or received contributions on its behalf before the organisation was declared unlawful. CHRI pointed out that a blanket application of this provision would lead to undue harassment of persons coerced by insurgent groups to provide sustenance and shelter to them.

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