Chandigarh, Nov 4 (PTI) Opposition AAP today asked theCongress-led Punjab government not to enact "tyrannical"Punjab Control of Organised Crime Act (PCOCA) as they claimedit is bound to be "misused" by the police and state'spolitical hierarchy to "settle scores" with their opponents.
Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Sukhpal SinghKhaira said a strong willpower is required to control law andorder in Punjab and not a draconian act like PCOCA.
"The Amarinder Singh government is lacking willpower asevident from series of political murders that have rockedPunjab," he said.
"The Punjab Police has failed miserably to trace or crackeven one political murder during the last couple of years.
Amarinder Singh is only trying to pass on the buck of hisfailures sometimes to the NIA and now by proposing to enactthe tyrannical PCOCA," he said in a statement here.
The state has witnessed "gross misuse" of such "ruthless"acts enacted earlier in the name of law and order, where thepolice and the political dispensation targeted their opponentswith impunity, said Khaira.
TADA was one such law enacted to control militancy but itdid more damage to the citizens than eradicating terrorismfrom Punjab, he claimed.
The chief minister yesterday directed the cabinet sub-committee headed by Minister Brahm Mohindra to expeditedrafting of the legislation on Punjab Control of OrganisedCrime Act (PCOCA) to crack down on the menace of organisedcrime and gangsters.
Khaira said the common man was already suffering frommisuse of various acts like the SC/ST Act, the Dowry Act andthe NDPS Act.
Although, these acts were created with a good intentionto ensure justice to the aggrieved but it has been noticedthat the laws are being vindictively misused many times, tosettle scores with the opposition, he said.
For example, Khair said, "I have been targeted throughthe NDPS Act by the government to create sensational news andto malign, defame and damage my reputation. If an act likeNDPS can be misused against the Leader of Opposition, one canimagine the plight of ordinary citizens." PTI CHSDIP.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.