Why Amit Shah dropped in for a workshop in Gujarat Assembly on the art of drafting Bills

While a bulk of the Opposition MLAs did not be Shah’s session, calling it “political” arsenic the time besides marked his birthday, immoderate attended the inaugural league of what was the archetypal specified store connected legislative drafting by the Gujarat Assembly.

Notably, it came connected the heels of astatine slightest 4 authorities / Bills floated by the BJP Gujarat authorities which were either withdrawn pursuing protests oregon challenged successful courts.

Of them, the astir important was the Gujarat Cattle Control (Keeping and Moving) successful Urban Areas Bill, 2022, seeking to criminalise stray cattle connected nationalist roads. The Bill projected to licence, modulate and prohibit stray cattle question successful municipality areas of the authorities – that is, municipal corporations and municipalities – portion mentioning the “threat” they posed to those riding two-wheelers. It had provisions to enforce penalties successful lawsuit of a violation, including the registration of a transgression case.

The Bill was passed aft a six-hour statement successful the authorities Assembly successful March 2022. Soon after, protests broke retired by the cattle-rearing Maldharis, an OBC group.

Ahead of the December elections, the BJP did not privation to hazard the legislation. Eventually, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel withdrew the Bill successful September 2022.

Two different Acts passed successful the Gujarat Assembly – Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime Act, 2015, and Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2021 – person been challenged, with petitions pending earlier the Gujarat High Court and Supreme Court, respectively.

Incidentally, the earlier forms of some the Bills were floated by the Gujarat authorities nether Narendra Modi arsenic CM. But past too, the authorities were passed by the Assembly but failed to get clearance.

The first, passed successful 2003, was past called the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime (GUJCOC). Its stringent provisions meant it failed to get statesmanlike clearance thrice.

Then, successful 2006, the Gujarat authorities brought the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Bill, 2006, to amend the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2003.

The amended Bill sought to marque specifications successful the class of “conversion” by stating that “the provisions shall not use to inter-denomination conversion of the aforesaid religion”. The Buddhist and Jain communities objected to this since the Bill construed Jainism and Buddhism arsenic denominations of Hindu religion.

The past Gujarat politician Nawal Kishor Sharma returned the Bill for reconsideration of the government, and it was yet withdrawn successful 2008.

The provisions of the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime Act, passed successful 2015, which person been challenged successful the High Court, see its applicability with retrospective effect, stringent bail conditions including nary anticipatory bail and admissibility of confessions made earlier constabulary officials successful a tribunal of law.

The Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2021, besides stuck successful court, seeks to prohibit spiritual conversion by unlawful means, particularly wherever “women are lured to matrimony for the intent of spiritual conversion”. Certain provisions of the Act were stayed by a Division Bench of the Gujarat High Court, and the aforesaid has been challenged successful the Supreme Court by the Gujarat government.

A 4th authorities passed by the Gujarat Assembly which was challenged successful the High Court is the Gujarat Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 2020. In May 2024, the tribunal upheld the law validity of the law, which retrospectively criminalises ‘land grabbing’ of some nationalist and backstage property, puts the load of impervious connected the idiosyncratic accused of onshore grabbing, and prescribes a minimum condemnation of 10 years for violations.

The league addressed by Shah, who was a curate successful the Gujarat authorities nether Modi, began with a video showing clips from his clip successful the authorities Assembly. He focused his code connected however to debar judicial setbacks successful law-making, with a fig of suggestions for the legislators and authorities officials drafting the Bills.

The accomplishment of legislative drafting was “very important, but going extinct”, helium said, adding that those liable should devise laws with “clarity connected the objectives” without leaving down immoderate grey areas.

He said, “The much clarity with which the Legislature transforms its objectives into law, the lesser the grey areas. Lesser the grey, lesser the (chance of) involution of the judiciary.”

Shah went connected to accidental that it was existent that the lines betwixt the Judiciary, Executive and Legislature were getting blurred, and said the main crushed for this was “poor drafting of laws”.

For the workshop, the Assembly Secretariat invited each sitting and erstwhile MPs/MLAs, erstwhile speakers / lawman speakers and ex-chief ministers of Gujarat. However, the absorption Congress skipped the portion addressed by Shah.

CLP person Amit Chavda said, “I attended the inaugural session, which was for officials. But the different lawsuit seemed to person been organised for governmental reasons, for Amit Shah’s birthday, and truthful we did not be it.”