BANGALORE: The Assembly on Monday passed the Karnataka Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug-offenders, Gamblers, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders, Slum Grabbers and Video or Audio Pirates (Amendment) Bill, 2014, by extending its ambit to sexual predators, acid attackers, money launderers and those who engage in illegal sand mining and quarrying.
The Bill was passed without any debate amid uproarious scenes with BJP members continuing their dharna for the third day demanding a CBI probe into the alleged denotification of 541 acres acquired for Arkavathy Layout.
The Bill, which was passed in the backdrop of the outcry against rape and atrocities on women, describes ‘Sexual Predator’ as a person who commits or abets in the commission of any offences under sections 376, 376A, 376B, 376C, 376D and 376E of the Indian Penal Code, or offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
It also covers those who cause damage to environment through sand mining and quarrying, terming them as ‘Depredators of Environment’, if their act amounts to an offence under the laws related to conservation of forest or wildlife.
The Bill empowers the government to detain ‘any acid attacker, bootlegger, depredator of environment, digital offender, drug offender, sexual predator, gambler, goonda, immoral traffic offender, land grabber, money launderer, video or audio pirate,’ for upto a year without a warrant.