Cabinet okays communal violence bill

By IANS,

New Delhi : Ahead of the parliament debate on the Liberhan Commission report, the union cabinet late Thursday evening cleared a bill to check communal violence in the country.

The cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved the revised Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) bill for introduction in parliament, official sources said. The bill had been drafted in 2005.

In its Action Taken Report on the Liberhan Commission report, which probed the Dec 6, 1992 Babri Masjid demolition, the government had promised to table the communal violence bill in parliament at the earliest.

The bill contains a clause that will allow the central government to declare an area in a state as communally disturbed. However, in order to deploy security forces, the permission of the state concerned would be needed.

Special courts would be set up to try cases registered in a communally disturbed area. The bill also provides for the Supreme Court to transfer cases from one court to another and take steps to protect witnesses.

The parliament is to debate the Liberhan Commission report next week .