Anti-communal violence Bill cleared by Cabinet; likely to be introduced in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: The UPA government has decided to introduce the controversial Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill in the ongoing session of Parliament.

"We will try to introduce the Bill in Parliament tomorrow," Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said on Monday after a meeting of the Union cabinet that lasted for nearly three hours.

At the meeting, NCP chief and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar reportedly asked if the views of the various state governments had been obtained and whether the Bill would disturb the delicate Centre-state relations.

Mr Pawar's concerns, interestingly, echoes those expressed by Opposition-ruled states of Gujarat, Goa, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. These states have written to the Centre stating their in-principle objections to the Bill.

The Centre has substantially diluted the provisions of the original Bill that sought to empower the Central government to intervene in a riot-hit area if the state government failed to curb violence.

For example, initially, it was proposed that the Centre would create a body that could directly intervene in a riot-affected area. Now, this role has been given to the National Human Rights Commission or NHRC, which, in tune, will require the state government's nod.

This provision has been questioned by Finance Minister P Chidambaram who told the cabinet that the Bill may lose its effectiveness if a state government didn't allow the NHRC to intervene.

The Bill also seeks to penalise district officials of a riot-hit area for dereliction of duty. It also seeks to establish a uniform standard of compensation and rehabilitation. Minority Affairs Minister K Rehman Khan, sources say, strongly pitched for the Bill at the meeting.

Mr Khan is said to have told his cabinet colleagues that any infirmity could be fixed later and that the priority was to introduce the proposed law urgently. The government plans to introduce the Bill in the Rajya Sabha.

"If we bring the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, even if it's not passed in UPA government's tenure, the Bill would not expire. Any subsequent government can get it passed," said a senior cabinet minister.

As per rules, any Bill that is passed by the Lok Sabha but does not get approved in the Rajya Sabha expires with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha. In other words, if UPA introduces the proposed Communal Violence Bill in the Lok Sabha but fails to get it cleared by both Houses of Parliament by May 2014, the Bill will lapse. Any new government will have to start the process all over again.

And UPA has only four days before the Winter session of Parliament ends to legislate a new law. "Our priority is the Lokpal Bill but we want to keep the Communal Violence Bill alive by bringing it in the Rajya Sabha," the senior minister told NDTV.