House passes Bill for preventing defacement of public, pvt property

LUCKNOW: The state assembly on Wednesday passed the Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Defacement of Public and Private Property Bill, 2021.

Tabling the bill, parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said the distortion of public property and private property on the invocation of political procession, illegal demonstration, strikes, shutdown and agitation in the state was done by the people participating in the above-mentioned activities.

It had been noticed that public property was defaced by pasting posters, pamphlets or writing with ink, paint or chalk, he said. Houses, walls, fences and other structures of private properties were also defaced during such activities, the minister added. Such defacement spoiled the public view and beauty of the properties. It also created a bad image of the state in the mind of citizens and tourists, he said.

Defacement compelled the helpless owners of properties to either tolerate it or to remove the disfigurement at their own cost, Khanna said.

The bill prescribes one year imprisonment, fine not less than Rs 5,000 which may extend to Rs 1 lakh. An executive magistrate and police commissioner may compound any offence under the bill after giving proper opportunity of a hearing to the person or authority to whom the loss or damage has been caused.

The bill provides that if the offence is committed for the benefit of some person, company, a body corporate, an association of persons then such persons — president, chairman, director, partner, manager, secretary or other person concerned with the management of the company – will be deemed guilty of the offence unless he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or consent.

Revenue code, other bills get House nod

The state legislative assembly passed the Uttar Pradesh Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers Cadre) Bill, 2021 for the implementation of reservation on the post of assistant professor, associate professor and professor in state educational institutions maintained or aided by the state government. The assembly also passed the Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Uttar Pradesh Control of Goondas (Amendment) Bill 2021 to provide Commissioner of Police (Lucknow and Gautam Buddha Nagar) as appellate authority and the Uttar Pradesh Qualifying Services for Pension and Validation Bill, 2021.