APJ Abdul Kalam, Pratibha Patil rejected Gujarat’s anti-terror Bill

New Delhi: One of the major controversial provisions of the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime Bill, 2015 is Section 20(4), which says that “no accused person in this Act shall be released on bail or on his own bond, unless the public prosecutor has been given an opportunity to oppose the application, the special court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail”.

Previously Presidents A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil rejected the Bill in 2004 and 2008. After its passage for a third time without any changes, the old Bill is still pending with the President.

The BJP government in the state feels that with the NDA government now headed by former Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, the new Bill will get Central approval.

Gujarat Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil said some of the provisions of the Bill are even unconstitutional. He told the House that the provision of confession before a police officer was contradictory with the Indian Evidence Act, as according to Section 164 CrPC and the Indian Evidence Act, only a statement before a magistrate can be considered as evidence.

On the provision for not releasing an accused on bail, Mr Gohil said this provision too was unconstitutional.