Gujarat passes controversial anti-terror bill

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Assembly passed the controversial bill 'Gujarat Control of Organised Crime (GUJCOC) Bill' on Tuesday. The bill empowers law enforcing authorities to intercept and record phone calls as evidence.

The bill was earlier rejected by two Presidents, Pratibha Patil and APJ Abdul Kalam.

Human rights activists and opposition parties have strongly condemned the bill.

The first version of the proposal was drafted and sent to the Centre in 2004, when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister.
According NDTV reports, the Union government headed by the BJP's Atal Bihari Vajpayee had sent it back, asking for major changes. Also, the coalition government led by the Congress objected to later versions of the bill.

However, despite these reservations, the new bill does not seem to have incorporated the changes.