KOLKATA: In line with the processes in the BJP-ruled Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, the West Bengal government is set to introduce a bill to strictly deal with organised anti-social activities, like public disorder, vandalism and attacks on police personnel and public servants, in the assembly on Monday.
While addressing in the Assembly earlier this week, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had announced that the bill would be placed during the ongoing budget session in the House. “With such a law in place, people will think five times before taking the law into their hands,” he had said.
The Adhikari government published a gazette notification mentioning “The West Bengal Public Safety and Control of anti-Social Activities Bill, 2026” on Wednesday. The notification, published in the special number of the Kolkata Gazette, stated that ensuring public safety and enforcing strict control on organised anti-social activities are the primary considerations of this law.
As per the proposed law, preventive arrest for up to one year can be made if any person is identified as dangerous for public safety. With applications of relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita with the proposed law, assets of the accused can be seized.
A senior official at the state secretariat Nabanna said, “There have been repeated instances where police personnel, administrative officials and even Central forces have come under attack while performing their duties. The objective of the new law is not only to maintain law and order, but also to ensure public safety.”
The government has also proposed to amend the West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order Act, 1972, which deals with riots, arson, looting, use of explosives and other actions that threaten public order, he said.
The amendment is expected to widen the scope of the existing law and provide additional powers to the administration and police for dealing with such offences, the official added.
He explained that unlike the existing law, which primarily focuses on maintaining law and order, the new bill proposes to strengthen public safety and address anti-social activities more comprehensively.
West Bengal witnessed several incidents in the past in which police stations and government offices were targeted by miscreants. In some cases, police personnel and officers were reportedly forced to take shelter from violent mobs. In one such incident, police personnel were found taking shelter under a table inside a police station in south Kolkata to save themselves from violent mob.
The latest incident of vandalism happened in Falta of South 24-Parganas district, where some locals, led by the wife of arrested Trinamool Congress strongman Jahangir Khan, who suffered a humiliating defeat to the BJP candidate in the assembly election, tried to storm the local police station, allegedly to free him.
Maintenance of Public Order Act to be amended
The government has also proposed to amend the West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order Act, 1972, which deals with riots, arson, looting, use of explosives and other actions that threaten public order, an official said. The amendment is expected to widen the scope of the existing law and provide additional powers to the administration and police for dealing with such offences, the official added.