Activists want rollback of bill for immunity to officials

Social activists in Rajasthan staged a protest demanding complete withdrawal of the Criminal laws (Rajasthan Amendment ) Bill that protects public servants from being probed for on-duty actions.

The activists — including Kavita Srivastava of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Nikhil Dey of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), Salim Engineer of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind- slammed the state government at a public rally for referring the Bill to the Assembly’s Select. Committee.

“The Raje government is misleading people,” Kavita Srivastava told DH. “Referring the Bill to the Select Committee means the government is keeping the issue open.”

The government may have pushed the Bill to the backburner for the time being, but the ordinance is still in place. “It will be valid till December 4 and will be reviewed in 42 days,” Kavita said.

Two Public Interest Litigations and one writ petition have been filed in the high court against the ordinance, introduced in the Rajasthan Assembly as a Bill on Monday.