Cabinet nod to anti-communal violence bill

The cabinet Monday approved the revised anti-communal violence bill which provides for penalty for hate propaganda, said informed sources.

According to the sources, the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill after debating it for around two and half hours.

The revised bill is likely to be introduced in the ongoing winter session of parliament which ends Dec 20, said the sources. The bill has been pending since 2005.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is opposed to bill, and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has written to the prime minister and some chief ministers opposing the bill.

The government however has said that it has sought to address apprehensions expressed by the BJP and some chief ministers in the revised bill.

The sources said that the revised bill provides penalty for dereliction of duty by public servants as also organised communal violence.