Bengal to table new bills on ‘anti-social activity’, Uniform Civil Code next week: Explained

THe Suvendu Adhikari-led BJP regime in due west Bengal is all go under to innovate deuce bills next week that dramatically widen the scope of “anti-social activity”, including provisions for preventive detention for up to 12 months without trial. It also plans to introduce the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) bill next week.Besides these two controversial bills, Adhikari said on Friday that the government would also bring in strict legislation against "love jihad", "land jihad" and forced religious conversion.Bills on ‘anti-social activities’Two proposed laws that broaden the definition of “anti-social activity” allow preventive detention for up to 12 months without trial, and permit the auction of an offender's property to recover losses will be introduced next week, officials told HT on Friday.The two bills — the West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-social Activities Bill, 2026, and the West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order (Amendment) Bill, 2026 — mirror similar laws in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, the officials said.The West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-social Activities Bill, 2026, seeks to allow preventive detention for as long as 12 months without trial. It also includes provisions for repeated detention if required.The West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order (Amendment) Bill, 2026, proposes the seizure of an offender's property, which can then be auctioned to compensate for losses, officials familiar with the matter said.According to the Bill, based on a copy of the special June 24 Kolkata Gazette notification accessed by HT, an anti social activity includes any act "that causes or is likely to cause, directly or indirectly, alarm, danger, fear or insecurity among people; poses a great or widespread danger to life or property; disturbance in public order; obstructs business, trade or professions; involves the unlawful dispossession of any person from movable or immovable property; and causes substantial loss or damage to public and private property."The proposed law also includes "any illegal activity relating to mining, quarrying, sand extraction, forest produce or wildlife which causes substantial loss to the public exchequer" under the definition of "anti-social activities".Uniform Civil CodeIn its manifesto for the 2026 Assembly elections, the BJP promised to implement the UCC within six months of forming the government. The BJP government plans to introduce the UCC in the Assembly on June 29, state parliamentary affairs minister Shankar Ghosh told HT on Thursday."UCC will be implemented in West Bengal. There is a procedure which has to be followed. A committee headed by a sitting judge has to be set up. Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Assam have done it before. I will tell in the Assembly on Monday," he said.The UCC is one of the country's most debated and politically sensitive issues. It seeks to establish a common set of personal laws governing matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and succession for all citizens.So far, the BJP-ruled states that have implemented the UCC have kept tribal communities outside its scope. Their focus has largely been on bringing uniformity to marriage laws and registration, divorce and maintenance procedures, and the registration of live-in relationships.He also said the state government would introduce strict laws against "love jihad", "land jihad" and forced religious conversion.'Love jihad' is a term commonly used by right-wing groups to describe marriages between Muslim men and Hindu women. However, neither the courts nor the Centre officially recognise the term.TMC attacks BJPTMC MP Mahua Moitra hit back at the BJP government over its proposed laws, accusing it of trying to "uproot" the Opposition through intimidation and divisive, draconian policies, as mentioned in an earlier HT report.She also objected to the proposed Bill on "anti-social activity", saying it "provides neither judicial safeguards nor legal protection"."It is even more stringent than the Emergency era MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act), the UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) and other harsh laws. Multiply all of them by 10 and only then do you arrive at this Bill," she said."It has become clear within one month how disastrous the consequences of this government could be for the people of West Bengal."One of Mamata Banerjee's senior party leaders, TMC Lok Sabha MP Saugata Roy, also opposed the move."We are opposed to UCC right from the beginning. It is against secularism. BJP is enforcing it in the states where it is in power. Jawaharlal Nehru committed that the UCC would be introduced in India only if Muslims accepted it. Since Muslims have not accepted it, the BJP is moving a step towards forming a communal government," Roy told HT.The UCC has remained one of India's most debated issues since the period before Independence. It was extensively discussed in the Constituent Assembly before the makers of the Constitution decided to include it under the Directive Principles of State Policy, which are not legally enforceable.