Gujarat's Controversial Anti-Terror Bill Withdrawn By Home Ministry: 10 Developments

The Narendra Modi government at the Centre had in September 2015, cleared the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GCTOC) Bill, and sent it to the President for his assent.

The Bill, first introduced in 2003 when Mr Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat, was passed by the state assembly for the fourth time in 12 years in March last year.

It was passed in the absence of the opposition Congress, which walked out in protest against what it called a "draconian bill". The ruling BJP has a big majority in Gujarat.  

The Bill was sent back by two Presidents, first APJ Abdul Kalam in 2004 and then Pratibha Patil in 2008.

On both occasions, the then UPA government recommended to the President that they reject the Bill saying several provisions were not in conformity with the central law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Both Presidents had rejected the bill objecting to a controversial provision that allowed the police to record telephone calls and admit it as evidence in court.

The Bill also provided for confessions made before senior police officers to be submitted as evidence in court. Rights activists warned that this would mean suspects could be tortured into confessing and this could be used in court.

The bill also provided for keeping a suspect in custody for 30 days, instead of the current 15 days. It also said that if a public prosecutor recommended, the police could take 180 days to file a chargesheet instead of the current 90 days.  

The first version of the proposal was sent to the Centre in 2004 by the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat; the union government headed by the BJP's Atal Bihari Vajpayee had sent it back, asking for major changes.

When the Gujarat Assembly passed the bill in March last year, it retained the controversial provisions that had been rejected.