Overview

• The state legislature fast-tracked the bill through the assembly and council and forwarded it to the governor for assent.
• The law empowers authorities to detain suspects pre-emptively or seize assets after judicial approval to combat suspected urban Naxalism.
• Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal branded the bill draconian and called for symbolic burnings of its copies in every district.
• Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader Prakash Ambedkar described the measure as an undeclared emergency and announced plans to file a court challenge.
• Opponents warn that its broad definitions mirror other states’ security laws and could be used to target environmentalists, tribals, farmers and slum dwellers.