Due to the controversies arising out of  lynching PWD Engineer “M K Gupta” Uttar Pradesh government to day enacted a new bill in assembly mandating all government servants to make donations for “Mayawati” birthday (“Arthik Sahayog Diwas” – Jan15th) celebrations. Speaking to media persons UP Chief Minister Mayawati said such a law is necessary to protect innocent legislators like “Shekhar Tiwari” who were harassed for performing their democratic duties like extorting money.

This new law is as lenient as the new anti-terror bill - “Unlawful Activities Prevention Amendment’s (UAPA)” introduced by the union government of India. The law termed as “Anti Birthday Celebration Activities Prevention Act (ABCAP)” lays the guidelines for the amount to be paid by government officials based on their grade. Higher the grade of the officers higher they need to pay. In case of non compliance officials can be punished with a maximum penalty of Rs. 1 lakh fine or 2 years imprisonment.

The principal opposition party, the “Samajwadi Party” leader “Amar Singh” termed the new law as draconian and said the law should at least have a clause provisioning lesser penalty for officers of back ward community so that social justice prevails.