Karnataka refers crowd control bill to house committee amid Opposition concerns
The legislation specifies that unpermitted events could attract penalties including imprisonment of up to seven years and fines of Rs 1 crore. Events resulting in injury or fatalities would carry up to seven years' imprisonment for injuries and up to life for deaths.Disturbances or breaches of peace during events could result in three years' imprisonment and fines of Rs 50,000. The Bill exempts family functions and private events, including those in leased or hired venues, while religious events, mass marriages, and government functions are to be excluded.Senior BJP legislator Suresh Kumar criticised the Bill as an 'afterthought' following the High Court's questions on Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for crowd management, describing it as a 'postmortem Bill.'Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka expressed concerns that the Bill could become a tool for police misuse, asking, 'All political parties hold programmes or events. If something goes wrong, then what'll be the fate of that party? This must be thought about. This should not become a weapon for police. Think and frame rules.'Other legislators, including Bijapur City MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and BJP MLA Sunil Kumar, echoed these concerns, warning that powers granted under the Bill could be misused to target protests or certain communities, and questioned its applicability to spontaneous protests, religious festivals, or government events. Yatnal alleged the Bill seemed intended 'to target events of one religion and curtail protests' and warned it was 'more dangerous than what was done by the British.'Responding to the opposition, Parameshwara agreed to amend certain clauses, reducing the advance notice period to five days and exempting religious events, mass marriages, and government functions. Despite these assurances, opposition members maintained that the Bill required careful scrutiny before enactment and called for its referral to a house committee. The Speaker, UT Khader, subsequently confirmed that the Assembly's House Committee would review the legislation for detailed consideration.- EndsIN THIS STORY#Karnataka
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