Yogi Adityanath has become a household name in the past one year. The UP Chief Minister has become famous not only in his state but all over India for his relentless fight against organized criminal syndicate in the state. The UP Police has been going hammer and tongs after criminals ever since Chief Minister Yogi came to the helm of affairs. There has been a marked improvement in the law and order situation in comparison to past regimes.
Shockingly, even these efforts of the present dispensation have not been free from criticism. Sections of the political class and the mainstream media masquerading as human right proponents, have been questioning the government as to why it is trying to take on the established hooligans in the state. They have effectively defended criminals under the garb of human rights. The biggest manifestation of this tussle is the controversy created by the opposition over a strong anti-crime bill sought to be passed by the current government.
The bill titled Uttar Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Bill (UPCOCB) is designed on the lines of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). The bill was first passed by the legislative assembly on 21st December last year.
However, the bill was blocked by the Legislative Council in the state, where the opposition still has a majority. But it seems that the Yogi government is not going to give up in its fight against terror, even in face of the unjustified furor generated by the opposition parties. The bill was introduced again and passed by the legislative assembly yesterday, in the backdrop of fierce protests and a walkout staged by the opposition alleging that the bill is a draconian piece of legislation.
It is shameful how the opposition parties, who in their time had failed to rein in crime in the state, are fighting tooth and nail to stop the current government from continuing its fight against crime.
UPCOCB being draconian seems to be a mere excuse for stalling its progress and hampering the government’s fight against crime in the state. UPCOCB provides for a special force and special UPCOCB courts to expedite the hearings of cases filed under the prospective act, and takes on only hardened criminals. It targets only those involved in organized crime or those trying to foment terror.
The objective of UPCOCB is to give more teeth to the executive and curb the illegal mining mafia, the kidnapping gangs, the use of explosives, etc. Going by a plethora of judgments passed by several courts in the country, it is within legislative competence to enact a law which provides special shortened procedures and enhanced punishment. The only requirement is that there should be a reasonable classification as the basis of such a law. In this case, it deals only with hardened criminals and not ordinary citizens. Thus, there is nothing unreasonable, arbitrary, or draconian in the present bill.
Stalling important legislation for political gains is not new to the current opposition. But in this case there is a larger context. The fact that UP politics is influenced to a large extent by money and muscle power is no longer a secret.
The opposition’s abstinence to a strong bill against organised crime must be taken as an admission of their dependence on muscle power. It is almost as if they don’t want a crime free Uttar Pradesh.
Perhaps the opposition parties, being afraid of a scenario of crime-free UP, have started to oppose the bill which promises to give a huge impetus to the enforcement agencies currently engaged in fighting the criminal gangs and the mafias active in the state.