Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand and State BJP President Deepak Prakash on Friday welcomed the Governor’s decision to return the bill against mob lynching saying that this was done as it was illegal.
Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais on Thursday returned the draft of the ‘Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021’ passed by the state assembly in December last year, to the state government with suggestions.
Speaking to ANI, the BJP state unit chief said, “It is very unfortunate that the Jharkhand Government, which had passed a bill against mob lynching in the state Legislative Assembly and sent it to the Governor, was not legal. There was also a violation of CrPC and IPC in the bill.” He further said that the bill “will disrupt social harmony” in the state.
“Under this bill, when two persons are involved in crime then it will be called a mob lynching. If a businessman writes something, then that too will be mob lynching. In such a situation, how can Jharkhand Government justify it?” Prakash asked. “It was politics of appeasement and was not legal. The BJP is constantly opposing it,” he said.
The BJP MP said that there should have been a “lawful” discussion in the Assembly on the bill. “But the state government did not do so. They did not do the work of bringing a lawful bill and only did this for politics of appeasement,” Prakash said.
The anti-mob lynching Bill passed by voice vote in the state Assembly on December 21, 2021, had been sent to the Governor for his assent. The legislation envisages imprisonment for those who are found to be involved in mob violence and mob lynching for periods ranging from three years to a life term, besides imposition of fine and attachment of properties for those found guilty of violence.
