Civil Society Groups Oppose Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill, Call For Immediate Repeal

Mumbai: Close to 80 civil society organisations have demanded quashing of the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill 2024 (MSPSB) while raising concerns about its impact on civil liberties.

On Monday, 79 civil society organisations wrote to Chandrashekhar Bawankule, the chairperson of the joint select committee on MSPSB to register their strong objections and misgivings over the proposed law. The organisations stated that they are deeply concerned about citizens’ freedom of speech and expression, association and assembly, the right to protest peacefully and the right to privacy.

The organisations include the People’s Union for Civil Liberties Maharashtra, Forum Against Oppression of Women, Hazrat-e-Zindagi Mamuli, Pani Haq Samiti, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Mumbai, Justice Coalition of Religious – West India, Free Speech Collective, Human Rights Defenders Alert – India and Jan Hakk Sangharsh Samiti Mumbai among others.

The letter stated that the bill introduced in December 2024 has not been made available in the public domain nor made open to public scrutiny in the form of any public consultation or hearing. An important Bill of this nature must be discussed in public as it affects the civil liberties of all citizens of Maharashtra, it said.

The signatories noted that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, while introducing the bill, had stated that the bill would tackle Naxalism in rural areas and frontal organisations in urban areas “which work towards creating distrust about the country and its institutions.” However, the signatories said that "legitimate criticism of state policies or demand for accountability from institutions, which is the work active citizenry and human rights activists, could be labelled as creating distrust and weaponised against dissenters and justice seekers.”

The letter submitted to the Joint Select Committee detailed the problematic provisions of the bill, including Clauses 2(f), 2(d), Clause 3, 5, 8, 9, 10 and 16, dealing with provisions termed as unlawful but without giving any definitions, penalties, processes like an Advisory Board to review the decisions of the government but allows the government to not disclose any fact if it considers it against the public interest.

The signatories claimed that such laws have not proved effective in curbing unlawful activities and that these draconian laws, including the Chhattisgarh Vishesh Jan Suraksha Adhiniyam (2005) (Chhatisgarh Act) and The Andhra Pradesh Special Public Security Act (1992) have been instead misused to target journalists, lawyers, environmental defenders, citizen activists and adivasi protestors.

The signatories drew attention of the Committee to Maharashtra’s long and illustrious history of social reform and political movements for democracy but also feared that MSPSB will seek to destroy this historical legacy. They demanded that the Bill is rejected outright and Maharashtra’s commitment to its democratic ethos and progressive character is affirmed.