West Bengal Assembly Passes Bills on Preventive Detention and Property Damage Compensation
The West Bengal Legislative Assembly on Monday passed two bills that have drawn sharp reactions from opposition parties. The first, the West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Bill, 2026, allows the government to detain a person for up to one year if it believes the detention is necessary to prevent future anti-social activity. The second, the West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order (Amendment) Bill, 2026, imposes a requirement for compensation from persons convicted of damaging public or private property.
Under the detention bill, the government may detain individuals considered to be 'generally reputed to be desperate and dangerous to the community'. An advisory board, chaired by a current or former High Court judge, will review each detention case within three weeks and decide whether the person should remain detained or be released. Notably, Section 10(4) states that a detained person 'shall not be ordinarily represented by a legal practitioner' before the board, though the board may waive this prohibition in writing for appropriate cases.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari defended the legislation, arguing that similar laws exist in other states such as Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand under different names. He cited incidents of mob violence during the previous Trinamool Congress government, including the killings of Haragobinda Das and Chandan Das in Murshidabad in April 2025. Adhikari assured the House that the law would not be misused for political vendetta.
Opposition members expressed strong concerns. Trinamool Congress MLA Prasun Banerjee, a former IPS officer, described certain provisions as 'scary' and predicted the law would not withstand judicial scrutiny. He warned that empowering District Magistrates to issue warrants could create a 'state within the state'. Other opposition MLAs feared the bills would curb peaceful protests and student movements.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sankar Ghosh countered that anarchy prevailed during the previous administration and that the right to protest does not extend to destroying public property. Minister Agnimitra Paul characterized the previous government as run by 'goons' and described the new law as a course correction.
