Kolkata: CM Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said Bengal’s preventive detention or anti-goonda bill, which seeks to empower police to detain a person for up to a year without trial, was firmly on course and denied that it had been returned to Lok Bhavan because of a conflict with a central law on drug offences.“The bill is being examined by the MHA (ministry of home affairs). Under Article 254(2), a state can enact its own laws (under the Concurrent List). In this bill, there is a non-bailable clause for three-month detention. Under the (central) NDPS Act, it is bailable. However, there are precedents; Kerala and Andhra Pradesh had enacted such laws under the IPC and CrPC regime. We have taken legal opinion. The chief secretary (Manoj Agarwal) and home secretary (Sanghamitra Bandopadhyay) are in constant touch with the MHA,” he said.Adhikari was responding to media reports that President Droupadi Murmu had returned the West Bengal Public Safety and Anti-Social Activities Control Bill, 2026, for reconsideration because it includes drug peddlers among those who can be classified as ‘goondas’. The communication from Rashtrapati Bhavan reportedly pointed out that a preventive detention framework for such offenders exists in Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988 (PITNDPS Act).The note reportedly stated that retaining the drug-related provision in the proposed state law could result in overlapping legal mechanisms, raising an issue of repugnancy under Article 254 of the Constitution. Under Article 254, if a central law is in conflict with a state law, the central law will prevail if the subject is on the Concurrent List.The Centre has reportedly recommended the removal of the reference to offences under PITNDPS Act from the bill, which was passed by the assembly on June 29.“These are all fake news,” the CM said late at night at Nabanna.Adhikari said the assembly had passed two bills to strengthen the crackdown on offenders. West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order (Amendment) Act, 2026, is now a law. “It allows us to auction off properties of offenders and impose on them a fine… The second bill was sent to the Centre because we introduced the non-bailable clause. According to our sources, it is with a joint secretary and has not been sent to Rashtrapati Bhavan yet. We are confident that this will be passed,” he told reporters.The bill was introduced with the objective of preventing anti-social activities and maintaining public safety. During the debate in the House, Adhikari had said the clause on preventive detention would not be used for political vendetta.The bill includes a provision allowing preventive detention for up to a year on the grounds of public safety, subject to review by an advisory board headed by a serving or former HC court judge. It seeks to empower authorities to conduct search, seize properties allegedly linked to criminal activities and prosecute people accused of knowingly sheltering individuals against whom detention or externment orders have been issued.On Aug 6, Calcutta High Court dismissed three PILs challenging the bill as it was yet to receive presidential assent.
