Activist seeks High Court stay on Bengal’s ‘anti-goonda’ law, calls it oppressive

2 min readKolkataUpdated: Jul 13, 2026 05:06 PM IST

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Parthasarathy Chatterjee said the PIL would not be heard urgently. (File Photo)

A human rights activist filed a PIL in the Calcutta High Court on Monday seeking a stay on the West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Act, arguing that the new “anti-goonda” law is oppressive and violates the Constitution.

Activist Milan Malakar was represented before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Parthasarathy Chatterjee by Sabyasachi Chatterjee. Although the counsel mentioned the petition before the bench, it declined to hear the matter urgently. The bench said it would be heard in due course.

The law—which gives authorities sweeping powers to prevent anti-social activities, organised crime, and violence—was passed by the Assembly on June 29 and took effect on Monday. It empowers the government to detain a person for a year without trial if it believes such detention is necessary to prevent future anti-social activity. The government can also detain those “generally reputed to be desperate and dangerous to the community”.

No representation before advisory board

The law proposes constituting an advisory board to scrutinise every detention case within three weeks. The board, led by a chairperson who is or has been a high court judge, will decide if a person should remain in detention or be released.

Section 10 (4) of the Act states, “A detained person shall not be ordinarily represented by a legal practitioner before an advisory board.”

A proviso to the same sub-section says the board may remove this prohibition in appropriate cases, and such decisions must be recorded in writing.

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Another recent law, the West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order (Amendment) Bill 2026, makes people compensate for offences such as damaging public or private property.

Tanusree Bose is a dedicated journalist reporting for The Indian Express from Kolkata. Her work focuses sharply on the complex administrative, political, and judicial developments across West Bengal, establishing her as an authoritative voice in regional news coverage.

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Calcutta High Court

goonda act

preventive custody