Guj. Assembly passes bill to control terrorism, organised crime more effectively

The Gujarat Assembly on Tuesday passed the controversial Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organized Crime Bill 2015 that makes confessions before police admissible in court.

The bill that aims to empower law enforcing authorities to intercept and record phone calls as evidence was earlier returned by two presidents to the state government for reconsideration.

The bill also puts the onus of proving the innocence on an accused.

The legislation is a modified version of the original 2003 Gujarat Control of Organized Crime Bill which was not cleared by the earlier NDA and UPA governments.

Meanwhile, a Congress MLA has condemned the passage of the Bill, claiming it was done so for political gain.

"The intention is not correct. They have done it for political gain," said senior Congress MLA Shaktisinh Gohil.