A law with its own definition for crime

With Naxalism growing in the state,the first time such a law was mooted was after the killing of 24 jawans by Maoists. Modelled on a similar law enacted by the Madhya Pradesh government,it was considered a necessity to counter the underground and overground support for Naxalites. The objectives and reasons given were that the law was necessary to keep a control on organisations and individuals who engage in disruptive activities and create an atmosphere of terror and fear thereby having an adverse impact on the security and development of the state. After it received the assent of the President,it became a law on April 12,2006.

PUNISHMENT

The maximum punishment under the law is seven years and a fine for the offence of committing/abetting/attempting to commit or planning to commit any unlawful activity.

REACH amp; CRITICISM

Coverage: This law has widened the scope of what constitutes unlawful activities. Not just acts that affect peace and tranquillity,the law says that acts that have a tendency to cause disturbance to public order,etc,also constitute unlawful actions. Communications,including verbal or written or even by representation,could constitute unlawful activities. Most clauses are harsher than those in the amended Unlawful Activities Prevention Act,1967.

Outrage: Critics say some clauses of the law are aimed at silencing activists and writers who oppose wrong policies of the government. They say many provisions also violate Fundamental Rights,including the Right to Life and Free Speech.

Also debated: The law empowers the state government to declare any organisation unlawful for a period of one year. Among other things,the Act empowers the district magistrate to order seizure of all movable properties found in places associated with people indulging in unlawful activities.

STORY SO FAR8230;

There are no accurate figures,but estimates of people detained under the Act range between 80 and 250. Those arrested include a doctor Sen,a lawyer,a writer-filmmaker Ajay T G,office-bearers of Peoples Union for Civil Liberties,which has also challenged the constitutionality of this Act in the High Court of Chhattisgarh,shopkeepers,and villagers.

Last year,the police arrested a young couple and their two-year-old child under the Act on the ground that a Naxalite woman had confessed to having stayed with the couple.