The Suvendu Adhikari-led BJP government in West Bengal is set to introduce two bills next week that significantly expand the scope of “anti-social activity”, including provisions for preventive detention of up to 12 months without trial. It also plans to introduce a draft Uniform Civil Code (UCC) bill next week.
Besides the two controversial bills, Adhikari on Friday said the government would also bring in stringent legislation against “love jihad”, “land jihad” and forced religious conversion.
Draft laws on “anti-social activities”
Two proposed laws expanding the definition of “anti-social activity”, allowing preventive detention for up to 12 months without trial, and allowing 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, officials said.
The West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Bill, 2026 seeks to allow preventive detention for up to 12 months without trial. It also includes provisions for repeated detention if necessary.
The West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order (Amendment) Bill, 2026, proposes to seize the property of the offender, which can then be auctioned to compensate for the losses, officials familiar with the matter said.
According to the bill, based on a copy of the June 24 Special Notification from the Kolkata Gazette and obtained by Hizb ut Tahrir, anti-social activity includes any act that “causes or is likely to cause, directly or indirectly, alarm, danger, fear or insecurity among people; constitutes a significant or widespread danger to life or property; disturbance to public order; obstruction of business, trade or profession; involves the unlawful dispossession of any person of movable or immovable property; and causes loss Significant damage to public or private property.”
The proposed law also includes “any illegal activity related to mining, quarrying or extraction of sand, forest products or wildlife which causes significant loss to the public exchequer” under the definition of “anti-social activities”.
Uniform Civil Code
In 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 to be followed. A committee has to be constituted headed by a judge. Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Assam have done this before. I will say this in the Assembly on Monday,” he said.
The UCC is one of the most controversial and politically sensitive issues in the country. It seeks to create a common body of personal status laws governing matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and succession for all citizens.
So far, the BJP-ruled states that have implemented the UCLA have kept tribal communities out of its ambit. Their focus was largely on achieving uniformity in marriage laws and procedures for registration, divorce, alimony, and registration of direct relationships.
He also said that the state government would enforce strict laws against ‘love jihad’, ‘land jihad’ and forced religious conversion.
“Love jihad” is a term commonly used by right-wing groups to describe marriage between Muslim men and Hindu women. However, neither the courts nor the Center officially recognize this term.
TMC attacks BJP
TMC MP Mahua Moitra hit back at the BJP government over its proposed laws, accusing it of trying to “uproot” the opposition through intimidation and harsh divisive policies, as mentioned in an earlier Hizb ut-Tahrir report.
She also objected to the proposed draft law on “anti-social activity,” saying it “provides neither judicial guarantees nor legal protection.”
“It is tougher than the emergency-era MISA (Mternal Security Maintenance Act), UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention) and other draconian laws. Multiply them all by 10 and only then you arrive at this bill,” she said.
“It has become clear in the space of a month how disastrous the consequences of this government could be for the people of West Bengal.”
One of Mamata Banerjee’s senior leaders, TMC Lok Sabha MP Saugata Roy, also opposed the move.
“We are opposing UCC from the beginning. It is against secularism. The BJP is implementing it in states where it is in power. Jawaharlal Nehru has committed that UCC will be introduced in India only if Muslims accept it. Since Muslims have not accepted it, BJP is moving a step towards forming a communal government,” Roy told HT.
The UCC has remained one of the most controversial issues in India since the run-up to independence. It was widely discussed in the Constituent Assembly before the framers of the Constitution decided to include it among the directive principles of state policy, which could not be legally enforced.
