MUMBAI: The Maharashtra State Legislative Council on Friday passed the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill, 2024, aimed at curbing “unlawful activities of Left Wing Extremist organisations or similar groups.” In protest against the Bill, the Opposition staged a walk out and wrote the dissent note.Maharashtra would be the fifth state to pass this special bill after Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand. The bill was passed with one dissent from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA Vinod Nikole. No legislators belonging to the Congress, NCP SP and Shiv Sena (UBT) objected to the bill.However, the Congress,, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP SP raised their dissent in the state council when the bill was passed on Friday and walked out of the council in protest. The Opposition parties also wrote the eight pages dissent note and submitted it to State Legislative council chairman Ram Shinde. They pointed out that there are several loopholes in the bill and it can be misused by the ruling party to target people having left wing ideology and organisations.The dissent letter reads that this new law will empower the people who have power and there will be concentration of the power. “And, this will lead to an authoritarian regime and dictatorship. If someone disagrees with the ruling party that person and organization will be targeted by labeling them urban naxal. The vagueness in law will also be misused. Besides, this law has not addressed the queries raised by the constitutional experts, opposition members and citizens. The joint committee constituted by the state government to study and change the bill, accepted only three changes in the original draft of the bill while remaining suggestions were not accepted,” the letter noted.
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