Jaipur, Jan. 22 -- The Rajasthan cabinet, chaired by chief minister Bhajanlal Sharma, on Wednesday approved the draft of a bill aimed at protecting the properties of permanent residents and the rights of tenants in "disturbed areas" where communal harmony is often affected, officials said. Addressing the media after the meeting, parliamentary affairs minister Jogaram Patel said the cabinet had approved the draft of "The Rajasthan Prohibition of Transfer of Immovable Property and Provision for Protection of Tenants from Eviction from Premises in Disturbed Areas Bill, 2026." "This bill will empower the government to declare an area as 'disturbed' where the demographic imbalance adversely affects public order, communal harmony and the social fabric. In areas witnessing frequent riots or mob violence, permanent residents are often forced to sell their properties at distress prices and migrate to different places," said Patel. He said that once an area is declared disturbed, any transfer of immovable property without prior permission of the competent authority would be treated as null and void. Property transfers would be permitted only after obtaining such approval. "Violation of the provisions will attract strict penal action, with offences being cognisable and non-bailable, punishable with imprisonment ranging from three to five years along with a fine," he added. Patel said the bill, once enacted, would safeguard the properties of permanent residents and protect tenant rights, while helping maintain communal harmony. The bill will be introduced in the upcoming session of the state Assembly. Rajasthan would be the second state, after Gujarat, to bring such a law. The Gujarat Disturbed Areas Act was first enacted by former CM Chimanbhai Patel in 1991, providing for imprisonment from six months to five years and a financial penalty of up to Rs.1 lakh or 10% of the property's value if an individual violates the Act. The Act also mandated that "any sale, gift, exchange, lease or other transfer of immovable property in a notified area must obtain previous permission from the district collector." The seller must submit an affidavit confirming free consent and a fair market price, and the collector conducts a social impact inquiry to check for possible communal clustering. In 2020, the Gujarat government, led by then chief minister Vijay Rupani, also amended the Act, expanding the collector's powers, while a state-level review committee was introduced. The amended Act stated that the collector shall hold a formal inquiry in the manner provided by the Gujarat Land Revenue Code, 1879, after receiving an application by a buyer under the Act. The collector was directed to check whether "there is free consent of persons intending to be the transferor and the transferee, the transfer is for a fair value of immovable property proposed to be transferred, there is likelihood of 'polarization' of the persons belonging to the community causing disturbance in demographical equilibrium of the persons belonging to different communities residing in the area in which the immovable property is proposed to be transferred," read a copy of the Act notified by the government on October 15, 2020. Following the inquiry, the collector himself can take the call to allow or reject an application. Meanwhile, the state government was also empowered to review the collector's decision at any time in future without any appeal. The Act was also enforced in several major cities of the state, such as Ahmedabad, Godhra, Vadodara, Surat and Bharuch. Commenting on the development, Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra said, "BJP has approved a draft of the disturbed areas bill which does not seem to be constitutional at all but only promoting the BJP's own propaganda." Dotasra further added: "This bill came as the Gujarat model after receiving another parchi. This is a conspiracy to disturb the peace of such a peaceful state like Rajasthan to divert the focus from the public issues and create a fearful atmosphere in the state. This bill is an attempt to give a constitutional guard to the government's hooliganism."...