UP assembly passes anti-organised crime UPCOCA Bill for second time

In a major legislative victory for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday passed the tough UP Control of Organised Crime (Act) (UPCOCA) Bill, clearing the decks for turning it into an Act.

With the passage of Bill, UP joins the league of Maharashtra and Karnataka in having the anti-organised Act in place. This comes in the backdrop of the UP Police in hot pursuit of wanted criminals under the Adityanath regime. Thus far, about 45 criminals had been killed by police in encounters and more than 3100 arrested. At least four cops have also given their lives in the line of duty.

This was the second time UPCOCA Bill had passed the muster in Vidhan Sabha, which had earlier on December 21, 2017 passed the Bill. It was sent to Vidhan Parishad for approval, where it was rejected on March 13, since ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lacks majority in the Upper House.

While, BJP enjoys brute majority in Vidhan Sabha commanding support of 324 members in the 403-member house, principal opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) is dominant in the 100-member UP Vidhan Parishad with 61 members, followed by BJP (13), Bahujan Samaj Party (9), Congress (2) etc.

The Bill was re-introduced in the assembly on the last day of ongoing UP Budget Session on Tuesday. However, the Opposition parties voiced protest over the Bill labelling it anti-people and 'a black law in the making' before staging a walkout. Later, the Bill was passed by voice vote.

UP Assembly speaker Hriday Narain Dixit said since the Vidhan Parishad had rejected the Bill without seeking amendments, detailed discussions were not required.

In his address, Adityanath said a big state like UP needed a tough law against organised crime. Lauding UP Police for effective crime control, he said the police had successfully busted crime and terror modules, while seizing large quantities of arms, ammunition, narcotics, illicit liquor etc.

He referred to the phenomenon of cybercrimes to stress on the expanding purview of criminals and the need to equip the state with a tough law. The CM said UP not only shared porous borders with other states, but international border with Nepal.

Adityanath linked crackdown against criminals with improving the perception of UP in the eyes of external stakeholders. This assumes significance in the backdrop of the government seeking humongous private investment to the tune of Rs 4.68 trillion.

The Act provides death sentence or life imprisonment with a penalty of up to Rs 2.5 million in cases, where the criminal act results in death. In other cases of organised crime, the offence would be punishable with imprisonment for a term not less than 7 years and may extend to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs 1.5 million.