Goonda Bill President returns row: CM denies reports

Reports that President Droupadi Murmu returned the West Bengal Anti-Goonda Bill for reconsideration over an overlap with central narcotics law have set off a political row, with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari calling the reports baseless. The Goonda Bill President returns story began with media reports in late September citing an official note.

The bill, formally the West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Bill 2026, was passed by the West Bengal Assembly in June. It widens the state's powers against organised crime, extortion, illegal mining, cybercrime and public disorder, and provides for preventive detention of up to one year. Authorities can also bar a person from entering a specified area or district for up to a year.

Why the Goonda Bill President returns reports emerged

According to the reports, the President declined assent after the Centre flagged Section 2(d)(iii)(B) of the West Bengal anti-goonda bill, which defines a "goonda" to include a person who commits, attempts to commit, abets or finances an offence punishable under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985. The Goonda Bill President returns reports cited an official note accompanying the returned bill.

The Centre's note said the provision could create an NDPS overlap with the preventive-detention framework under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1988 (PITNDPS Act), a central law that already provides for preventive detention in illicit drug trafficking cases. The note suggested deleting the reference to NDPS offences and warned the NDPS overlap could raise an issue under Article 254 of the Constitution, which deals with conflicts between state and central laws. The Article 254 question is central because a state law that conflicts with a parliamentary law on a concurrent subject ordinarily yields to the central law. For the Goonda Bill President returns question, that constitutional route is what is at stake: state laws on concurrent subjects are reserved for the President, and Article 254(2) lets such a bill operate in the state if it receives presidential assent.

Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee seized on the reports, calling the development "homework returned for correction". The bill had already faced legal questions: in August, the Calcutta High Court dismissed petitions challenging it as premature, observing that the legislation had not received presidential assent.

The Goonda Bill President returns claim meets a denial

Days after the reports surfaced, Adhikari rejected them outright at a press conference at the state secretariat. "This is fake news. It has no basis. The bill has not reached the President and is still with the Home Ministry for its consideration," he said. He added that the state had contacted the Union Home Ministry and received no communication indicating the bill had been sent back.

The chief minister said the government remained confident the West Bengal anti-goonda bill would eventually receive presidential assent. He also noted that the part of the legislation covering attachment of property has already come into effect in the state and has been applied to rioting offenders in Asansol.

The Goonda Bill President returns episode thus has two versions on record: the media reports of a return over the drug-law overlap, and the chief minister's denial that the bill ever reached the President. Adhikari's denial leaves the Goonda Bill President returns narrative resting on an official note cited by media reports rather than a public communication from Rashtrapati Bhavan.

What the episode leaves open for the bill

The conflicting accounts have left the bill's procedural status uncertain. If the reports of a return are correct, the bill can go back to the Assembly for changes before being sent again for presidential consideration. If the chief minister's account holds, the bill is still under examination by the Union Home Ministry. Until either the ministry or Rashtrapati Bhavan speaks on record, the Goonda Bill President returns story remains a contest of claims. The Goonda Bill President returns dispute may yet end up before the courts if the state challenges the Centre's reading of the narcotics clause. Either way, the NDPS overlap flagged in the Centre's note remains the provision to watch, and the Article 254 issue will decide whether the state must drop the narcotics clause to win assent.