Chhattisgarh HC upholds Special Public Security Act

The Chhattisgarh High Court today dismissed a public interest litigation filed by the People's Union for Civil Liberties challenging the validity of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005.
The division bench of Chief Justice Yatindra Singh and Justice Prashant Mishra held that the Act, enacted by the Chhattisgarh government for "protecting the state and its citizen", is valid, and does not infringe upon the fundamental rights of the citizens.
Interestingly, the court also observed that the Maoist movement had deviated from its original goals and was involved in killing innocents and extorting money, which was a roadblock for the development of the state.

PUCL had argued that the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 was sufficient for curbing the insurgency, and there was no need for a special law, and the state could not have made a legislation on this subject.
But the state, represented by the advocate general, said it had the right to enact such a legislation because it fell in the domain of "public security".