Why in news?
President has given his assent to the Maharashtra social boycott bill.
What is social boycott?
- A social boycott is an act of voluntary and intentional abstention from dealing with a person, organization, as an expression of protest, usually for social, political reasons.
- In India, it is frequent that particular Indudival or group of Indudival are boycotted by other set of majority in the name of caste, religion, rituals, and traditions.
- It was categorically stated that social boycott for reasons such as religious rituals, inter-caste marriage, lifestyle, dress or vocation are happening.
What are the highlights of the bill?
- Maharashtra is the first state in the country to formulate a law to punish social boycott.
- The objective of the bill is to of uproot social evils in the name of caste panchayats.
- Punishment for an offence includes a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh and imprisonment of up to seven years or both.
- Social boycott will be treated as a crime.
- There is a provision for victims or any member of the victim’s family to file a complaint either with the police or directly to the magistrate.
- Earlier social boycott was not clearly defined in existing laws, which often saw perpetrators using loopholes to escape punishment.
- A monitoring mechanism has been provided through social boycott prohibition officers.
- Speedy trial within six months of filing of the charge sheet.
Source: The Hindu
