The controversial Uttar Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Bill, 2017 will be re-introduced in the UP Assembly on Tuesday, four months after it was rejected by the legtislative Council.
The Bill is expected to be passed the same day.
The Assembly was informed on March 22 last that the UPCOC Bill was returned by the legislative Council. The Bill, once passed for the second time by the Assembly would not require assent of the Council.
After the Bill is passed for the second time by the Assembly, where the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has absolute majority, it will go to Governor Ram Naik for his assent but he can refer it to the President as the Act would infringe on some provisions of Central laws.
The UPCOC Bill was introduced in the Assembly for the first time in December 2017, to enact a stringent law on the lines of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) to combat land mafia, mining mafia and organised crimes in the state.
The proposed legislation seeks to check organised and white-collar crime and mafia. There are 28 provisions in the Bill which are not present in the existing Gangsters Act.
Kidnapping for ransom, illegal mining, manufacturing of illicit liquor and its sale, acquiring contracts on the basis of muscle power, organised exploitation of forest produce, trade in wildlife, fake medicines, grabbing of government and private properties, and ‘rangdari’ (extortion) would come under the ambit of the new law. While tabling the Bill, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said that arrangements were made to check the misuse of the proposed law and that cases under it would be filed only on recommendations of a committee of divisional commissioner and range deputy inspector generals of police.
Opposition leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati, have said that the Bill could be misused to settle political scores and fear that it might be used to suppress minorities, poor and downtrodden sections of society.