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New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu has returned the West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Bill, 2026, or the ‘Anti-Goonda‘ Bill for reconsideration after the centre flagged a conflict between Bill’s provisions on drug-related offences and the existing central law on preventive detention in narcotics cases, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.

The objection raised by the centre pertains specifically to Section 2(d)(iii)(b) of the Bill, which includes offences under the NDPS Act within the ascribed definition of a “goonda.” The centre said the provision could overlap with the preventive-detention mechanism under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988, reported the Indian Express. 

“The proposed provision may, therefore, create an overlapping or parallel preventive-detention mechanism in respect of drug-related activities and may give rise to an issue of repugnancy under Article 254 of the Constitution of India. Accordingly, the reference to offences under NDPS Act, 1985 in Section........

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