Friday, January 6 2006 17:01 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: As the Bill on communal violence undergoes public scrutiny, serious reservations were today (Jan 6, 2006) expressed on the draft law by senior politicians and legal experts, who apprehended the misuse of the same.

Taking part in a seminar on the Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill, 2005, organised by the Home Ministry, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and lawyer Arun Jaitley said the proposed law could upset the federal structure of the country as it provides for special powers to Centre without adequate safeguards against their misuse.

"Chapter 11 of the Bill gives special powers to the Centre to deal with communal violence in a state and empowers it to take over the state's law and order mechanism if it is suspected that the state does not intend to act," he said.

Jaitley said while even under Article 356, there are certain in-built safeguards on Centre taking over a state's governance. But under the proposed law, the Union Government could use its special powers if a state failed to act on even one of 'scheduled offences' listed in the Bill, many of which are IPC offences.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil, who moderated the discussion, assured at the end that the federal structure of the country would not be disturbed. "We have taken care that the delicate balance between the Centre and State Governments is not disturbed," he said.

Former Chief Justice Ahmadi expressed apprehension that the clause empowering the state government or Centre to declare an area as communally-sensitive could be misused.

"What if the exercise of this power is done to target a victim group? What is the insulation provided against any such misuse?" he asked.