Cabinet clears communal violence Bill

It is likely to be introduced in Parliament Tuesday.

Among the clauses that the revised Bill doesn’t have is the one that had placed the onus of riots on the majority community,with victim of communal violence essentially being a person belonging to “religious or linguistic minority”.

However,after a lot of protests by the BJP and some other parties,this provision has been removed in the revised Bill.

The Bill cleared by the Cabinet at a specially called meeting also replaces the two authorities — one at the Centre called National Authority for Communal Harmony,Justice and Reparation and the other in each state — with the NHRC and the state human rights commissions.

Under the new Bill,the NHRC and the state human rights commissions oversee functions related to maintaining communal harmony.

The NHRC would also have power of superintendence over bureaucrats and would also have the power to punish them for dereliction of duty. One important change in the present Bill is that the responsibility of public servants in cases of breach of command and failure to exercise control over subordinates is applicable only when they are under his or her “direct command”.

The powers of intervention of the Centre in the event of riots have also been diluted in the revised Bill as a result of which the Union government will not have any perceived overriding powers anywhere.

Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told reporters after the meeting,“We will try to table the Bill in Parliament tomorrow.”

The rewrite

The clause that had placed the onus of riots on the majority community removed

The NHRC and the state human rights commissions to oversee functions related to maintaining communal harmony

Responsibility of public servants in cases of breach of command and failure to exercise control over subordinates is applicable only when they are under his or her “direct command”

The powers of intervention of the Centre in the event of riots diluted.