Bengal to bring Bills on keeping ‘goondas’ out of districts, recovering protest damages

The Bill states that if a district magistrate, a Commissioner of Police, or a police officer not below the rank of DIG authorised by the state government is apprehensive that a “goonda” is engaging in or will engage in anti-social activities, they may, to prevent it, “direct such person to remove himself outside such area, district or districts, or part thereof, as may be specified in the order, within such time as may be specified therein, and prohibit him from entering or returning to such area for a period not exceeding one year; and require such person to report his movements, or to report himself, in such manner, at such times, and to such authority as may be specified in the order”.

“Such laws have already been implemented in BJP-ruled states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,” said a state minister. “We are following that to stop many criminal activities, including syndicate or extortion, that became a regular feature during the rule of the Trinamool Congress (TMC).”

A senior Home Department official said during the Assembly elections, the Election Commission (EC) wanted to bar criminals from entering a specific area in many cases, “but they failed to do so because such legal provisions did not exist”.

Recovering damages

The government is also preparing to amend the West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order Act, 1972. The amendment Bill contains provisions allowing compensation to be claimed from people convicted of vandalising public or private property “in the course of any unlawful assembly, riot, public commotion, protest or other disturbance affecting public order…”

The Bill allows the imposition of “a payment of compensation on the person/persons committing such offence, to the extent of damage caused to the property” and provides for the setting up of a Claims Commission “for the purpose of adjudicating the claims for compensation in respect of such damage to any public or private property or both and for providing a mechanism to entitle the owner of such private property to file petition before the Claims Commission for determination of compensation for the loss or damage sustained by such act”.

“The principle of strict liability shall apply once the nexus between the incident and the damage to property is established. Liability may be imposed upon the actual perpetrators and upon persons who instigated, incited, abetted, organised, sponsored or harboured the perpetrators of the acts giving rise to the damage. Damages may include — damage to public property; damage to private property; and the cost reasonably incurred by the authorities in taking preventive, protective and remedial measures in connection with the incident,” reads the Bill.

The proposed law states that when the public property is damaged, the authority or the officer in charge of the property has to submit to the District Magistrate or the Commissioner of Police, as the case may be, “a report containing particulars of the damage and the estimated loss, together with such supporting documents as may be available”.

If a private property is also damaged in the same incident in which the public property is vandalised, its owner or any person duly authorised by the owner, may petition the Claims Commission for “compensation on the basis of such material as may be available, including any record or information obtained in the prescribed manner”.

Some of the laws enacted in other states to recover damages from people held responsible include the Uttar Pradesh Recovery of Damages to Public and Private Property Act, 2020, which has faced legal challenges, and the Haryana Recovery of Damages to Property During Disturbance to Public Order Act, 2021.

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The West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Bill, 2026

What is an anti-social activity?

The Bill defines it as an act that causes, or is likely to cause, directly or indirectly:

(i) alarm, danger, fear or insecurity among the general public or any section thereof

(ii) grave or widespread danger to life, person or property

(iii) disturbance of public order or public tranquillity

(iv) obstruction to the lawful exercise of any right or to any lawful business, trade, profession or occupation

(v) unlawful dispossession of any person from any movable or immovable property

(vi) substantial loss or damage to public or private property; or (vi) any illegal activity relating to mining, quarrying, sand extraction, forest produce or wildlife which cause substantial loss to the public exchequer

Who is a goonda?

A person who

(i) either by himself or as a member or leader of a group, gang, or syndicate habitually commits, attempts to commit, abets, promotes, finances or facilitates anti-social activities

(ii) has been charge-sheeted for an offence punishable under section 111 or section 112 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

(iii) commits, attempts to commit, abets, promotes, finances or facilitates any offence punishable under:

• • Arms Act, 1959
  • Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985
  • Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956
  • Explosive Substances Act, 1908;

(iv) is generally reputed to be desperate and dangerous to the community.

The West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order (Amendment) Bill, 2026

Claims Commission

To be set up to adjudicate claims for compensation for damage to public and private properties arising from specified public-order incidents.

When it applies

When the damage occurs in the course of an unlawful assembly, riot, public commotion, protest or other disturbance affecting public order.

Liability

Once a nexus between the incident and the damage is established, the principle of strict liability applies. It can extend not only to the actual perpetrators but also to those who instigated, incited, abetted, organised, sponsored or harboured them.

Private property owners to seek compensation

Owners or lawful possessors of private properties damaged in the same incident in which public properties are vandalised can file claims.