PATNA: Amid a walkout by the Opposition after unprecedented ruckus inside the Assembly, the Bihar House passed the Special Armed Police Bill, 2021, which allegedly gives special powers to the police to search and arrest anyone without obtaining a court warrant.
CM Nitish Kumar denied that the Bill had overarching powers. He said the Bill was meant to rename the Bihar Military Police and that no special powers have been given to the police. “The Opposition has not gone through the Bill,” he said, adding it was brought to convert the Bihar Military Police into Special Armed Police without any draconian powers.
The Opposition, however, termed the Bill as a black law as it repeatedly disrupted the House proceedings, forcing adjournments five times. The protest took an ugly turn when some MLAs tried to snatch the copy of the Bill from the Speaker and turned the reporters table upside down in the House.
After the House was adjourned for the fifth time, the Opposition lawmakers came out of the House and laid a siege to the Speaker’s chamber. After much uproar, an additional police force was summoned inside the Assembly to forcibly remove the legislators from outside the chamber. Some MLAs alleged they were manhandled.
Earlier in the day, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav took out a protest march against the Bill. The Patna police allegedly resorted to lathi-charge when the protesters broke the police barricades and allegedly threw stones at the policemen. A ruling party MLA alleged the Speaker was held captive by the opposition MLAs in their attempt to prevent the bill from being passed in the House.