Bengal assembly passes bill proposing preventive detention of anti-socials for up to 12 months

The West Bengal Legislative Assembly passed the West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Bill, 2026, with 176 MLAs voting in favour an...

What Happened

The West Bengal Legislative Assembly passed the West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Bill, 2026, with 176 MLAs voting in favour and 41 against.
The law empowers the State Government, District Magistrates, and Police Commissioners to issue preventive detention orders for up to 12 months without trial, if a person's activities are deemed to threaten public safety or public order.
"Anti-social activities" under the bill include acts that create fear or panic among the public, disturb public order, threaten lives or property, disrupt lawful trade and business, and activities linked to illegal mining, unauthorised sand extraction, or unlawful exploitation of forest and wildlife resources.
All offences under the bill are classified as cognizable and non-bailable; officials are authorised to search, seize and confiscate property, documents and materials connected to anti-social activities.
The bill has drawn attention to the constitutional framework governing preventive detention, particularly the safeguards mandated under Article 22.

Static Topic Bridges

Preventive Detention: Constitutional Basis

Preventive detention refers to the detention of a person not to punish for a past offence, but to prevent a future threat to public order, national security, or essential services. Unlike punitive detention (arrest after an alleged crime), it operates on anticipation of harm. India is one of the few democracies whose constitution explicitly permits preventive detention.

Parliament can legislate on preventive detention for reasons of defence, foreign affairs, and security of India (Entry 9, Union List / List I, Seventh Schedule).
Both Parliament and State Legislatures can legislate on preventive detention for reasons of maintenance of public order and maintenance of essential supplies and services (Entry 3, Concurrent List / List III, Seventh Schedule).
States can also legislate on public order under Entry 1, List II (State List).
Major central preventive detention laws: National Security Act (NSA), 1980; Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (COFEPOSA), 1974.

Connection to this news: The West Bengal bill is a state-level preventive detention law enacted under the concurrent power available to state legislatures for the maintenance of public order.

Article 22: Protection Against Arrest and Detention

Article 22 of the Indian Constitution (Part III — Fundamental Rights) deals with protection against arbitrary arrest and detention. It has two distinct parts: clauses (1) and (2) govern ordinary criminal arrest, while clauses (3) to (7) specifically govern preventive detention.

Article 22(4): No preventive detention law can authorise detention beyond three months unless an Advisory Board — comprising persons who are, or have been, or are qualified to be, Judges of a High Court — reports sufficient cause for continued detention.
Article 22(5): The detaining authority must communicate the grounds of detention to the detained person "as soon as may be," and must give the earliest opportunity to make a representation against the order.
Article 22(6): The authority may withhold disclosure of facts if it considers their disclosure to be against public interest.
Article 22(7): Parliament is empowered to prescribe circumstances and classes of cases in which a person may be detained for more than three months without an Advisory Board opinion, and to set maximum periods of detention.
The West Bengal bill provides for detention of up to 12 months — longer than the baseline three-month threshold — making the Advisory Board mechanism constitutionally essential for validity.

Connection to this news: The bill's 12-month maximum is permissible only if the procedural safeguards under Article 22(4)–(7) are strictly followed, including Advisory Board review before the three-month mark. Any violation would render the detention unconstitutional and subject to habeas corpus challenge.

Habeas Corpus and Judicial Review of Detention

Habeas corpus ("you shall have the body") is a legal writ that enables a person or their representatives to challenge the legality of detention before a court. It is one of the writs available under Article 32 (Supreme Court) and Article 226 (High Courts) of the Constitution.

Habeas corpus is the primary legal remedy against unlawful preventive detention.
Courts examine whether the procedural safeguards under Article 22 were complied with; non-compliance renders the detention void.
The Supreme Court, in A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras (1950), initially took a narrow view of personal liberty, but subsequent judgments (including Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, 1978) expanded the protection by linking Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) to principles of natural justice and fairness.
During the Emergency (1975–77), the Supreme Court's majority ruling in ADM Jabalpur v. Shivakant Shukla (1976) controversially suspended habeas corpus; this was overruled in K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017).

Connection to this news: Persons detained under the West Bengal bill retain the right to approach a High Court under Article 226 seeking habeas corpus, especially if Advisory Board norms or the communication of grounds is not followed.

Key Facts & Data

Bill passed with 176 in favour, 41 against in the West Bengal Assembly.
Maximum detention under the bill: 12 months without trial.
Article 22(4): Three months is the baseline beyond which an Advisory Board recommendation is constitutionally required.
Advisory Board must comprise persons who are, or have been, or are qualified to be Judges of a High Court.
Preventive detention falls under Entry 3, List III (Concurrent List) for public order purposes.
NSA, 1980 (central law): allows detention of up to 12 months for national security and public order, mirroring the West Bengal bill's ceiling.
Grounds under the West Bengal bill include: riots, violence, illegal mining, unauthorised sand extraction, and unlawful activities involving forest and wildlife resources.