Overview
- On Friday, June 19, 2026, the Maharashtra units of the Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India filed a writ in the Bombay High Court seeking a declaration that the Maharashtra Special Public Security Act is unconstitutional and an interim stay on its enforcement.
- The petition says the Act lets the state designate organisations as 'unlawful', creates four offences covering membership, fundraising, managerial assistance and vague 'unlawful activity', and allows authorities to seize and forfeit property.
- Petitioners argue the law removes basic procedural safeguards by allowing district magistrates and police commissioners to attach property and evict residents without prior hearing and by creating a government-appointed advisory board to review bans.
- The challenge contends the statute violates Articles 14, 19, 21 and 300A of the Constitution by enabling guilt by association, dispensing with mens rea requirements, hiding the material behind executive decisions and offering no clear route to recover forfeited property.
- The Act was passed by the Maharashtra legislature in July 2025 and got presidential assent in December 2025; the state says the measure targets Left-Wing Extremist groups but the court has not yet listed or decided the petition and further judicial review could determine how the law is enforced.