Rajasthan govt formally withdraws ‘gag’ bill from assembly

JAIPUR: A day after chief minister Vasundhara Raje announced to withdraw the controversial Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Bill, 2017, the state government formally withdrew the proposed law that would have restrained judicial magistrates from taking cognizance against serving and former judges, magistrates and public servants without the government approval.
The bill, which was tabled in October last year replacing an ordinance, provisioned jail term up to two years for media persons who disclosed names of accused judges, magistrates and public servants without government approval.
Transport and PWD minister Yunus Khan moved the motion withdrawing the controversial ‘gag’ bill on Tuesday. The motion was passed unanimously in the assembly.
Home minister Gulab Chand Kataria, who had introduced the bill in the house last year, was present in the assembly on Tuesday but the motion was moved by minister Khan, a close confidant of chief minister Raje. It led to speculations that the home minister was not on the same page with the CM on her decision to withdraw the controversial bill.
The home minister has been maintaining that the bill could be modified by removing the penal provisions for media persons and by reducing the time for government sanction from six to three months, as provisioned in similar law in Maharashtra.
Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot said, “The state government was forced to withdraw the controversial bill following its drubbing in the bypolls under pressure from the media and public at large.”
He added, the Congress government had brought in many path-breaking legislations like RTI, Right to Hearing, Transparency in Public procurement , Special Court Act, Lok Sewa Gurantee Act etc but the BJP government put them in limbo.
He said, if the government had properly implemented these laws, there was no need for this black law.
Chief minister Raje, after receiving a rude shock in the recent bypolls, did not want to continue with the controversial bill that was condemned as ‘black law’ across the country. Even the BJP central leadership did not come to her defense on the controversial bill.
Following a nation-wide opposition, the Raje-government was forced to refer the bill to assembly’s select committee. At the start of the budget session the government sought time extension for the select committee but later changed its stand and said the ordinance lapsed so the bill is being withdrawn.