Mamata Banerjee's Government passed the West Bengal (Prevention of Lynching) Bill 2019 on Friday. The Government proposed various degrees of punishment from life imprisonment to fines ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, if found guilty. Speaking of its purpose, the Chief Minister said it was introduced to prevent incidents of mob assaults and lynching in the state. The bill that was tabled in the House on Friday was also supported by opposition parties CPI(M) and the Congress. BJP, however, showed neither support nor opposition against it

'We passed a bill because the Centre doesn't have a law for it': Mamata

The bill describes lynching as any attempt or act of violence by a group of people on the “grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, language, dietary practices, sexual orientation, political affiliation, ethnicity or any other ground”. While passing the bill, the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticized the government for not having thrown light on this issue before. She further added that lynching is a social issue and despite the Supreme Court directing the Centre to tackle the issue, the government is yet to make a law against it, and that is why the state is implementing it to fight the issue on their level.

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Bill aimed to protect of vulnerable persons passed in West Bengal 

The bill aims to protect the constitutional rights of vulnerable persons and also prevent incidents of lynching and mob assaults. It further proposes action against those involved in committing the crime. Additionally, those found guilty of assisting the accused will be punished with imprisonment that may, depending on the case, extend up to three years with a fine of up to Rs. 1 Lakh. The bill also proposed a one-year jail term and a fine up to Rs 50,000 for “publishing, communicating or disseminating offensive material by any method – physical or electronic” and a maximum of three years and a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh for those who create “a hostile environment for a person or a group of persons”.

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Witness protection and compensation for the lynching victims has also been called upon and the bill mentioned that any allegation of threats, coercion or inducement to the witnesses must be brought to the notice of the court within 24 hours. In case of death of the victim, the people responsible for the incident will be punished with compulsory life imprisonment and a fine up to Rs 5 lakh.
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