Maha’s new security bill will trample freedom of expression: Pawar

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill will trample on the people's freedom of expression, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) president Sharad Pawar said on Thursday, PTI reported.

He was speaking at a conclave held here to oppose the bill, which was passed by both Houses of the Maharashtra legislature in its monsoon session.

Pawar conceded that the bill was not opposed effectively when it was first introduced in the legislative assembly last month by the BJP-led government, but added that the necessary course correction was done in the legislative council.

The former Union minister also alleged that "regressive forces" were infiltrating the judiciary.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said on this occasion that the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill has no reference to sedition. Had there been such a reference, his party would have supported it, he said.

In July, the Maharashtra Assembly passed the Special Public Security Bill, a legislation aimed at curbing unlawful activities linked to left-wing extremist groups. Passed by a voice vote, the bill sparked a heated debate, with Opposition parties raising red flags about the ambiguity of terms like “urban Naxal” and “left-wing extremism,” according to PTI.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who introduced the bill, defended it as a necessary step to counter what he described as the growing ideological influence of Maoist-linked groups in urban areas. While Maoist activity has declined in rural Maharashtra, Fadnavis claimed that extremist groups are allegedly trying to destabilise constitutional institutions by influencing young people in cities.

“This is for the internal security of the country,” The Indian Express quoted Fadnavis. “It is not against Left-wing parties like CPI or CPI(M). We, in fact, respect them even though we have different ideologies. It is against those organisations whose motive is to demolish the established institutions of our country. They will face action.”