 bill no  35  of  2010 the ban on witchcraft bill, 2010 by shri om prakash yadav, mp a bill to provide for ban on witchcraft in any form in the countrybe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-first year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the ban on witchcraft act, 2010short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india except the state of jammu and kashmir5(3) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appointdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires:—10(a) 'advertisement' means any notice, circular, label, wrapper or other documentrelating to witchcraft and includes any visible representation of witchcraft by means of any video or audio medium but does not include any publication which is of any interest in the field of science, literature, art or learning or of general concern;(b) 'prescribed' means prescribed by rules made under this act; and (c) 'witchcraft' means any act of magic, casting spells or sorcery or voodoo or black magic which is practiced with a view to help or harm other personsbanning of witchcraft53 notwithstanding  anything  to the contrary contained in any custom of anycommunity, tribe or religion, the practice of witchcraft in any form is hereby banned4 no person shall practise or cause to be practised, promote or cause to be promoted,advertise or cause to be advertised any act of witchcraft in any formban on advertisement of witchcraft in any form punishment5 any person who contravenes the provisions of this act shall be punished withrigorous imprisonment for a term which shall be not less than five years106 notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other law for the timebeing in force, any offence punishable under this act shall be deemed to be a cognizable and non-bailable offenceoffences committed under this act are cognizable and nonbailable7 the provisions of this act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistentcontained therein to any other law for the time being in forceoverriding effect of the act15power to make rules8 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, makes rulesfor carrying out the purposes of the act20(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement  of  objects  and  reasonsthe united nations organisation has released a comprehensive report in which it has expressed its concern at the number of murders ascribed to witch-hunting india has been named alongwith other underdeveloped countries as a high incidence zone for witchcraft related killings generally, women are branded as 'witch' and they are harassed, tortured, insulted and even murdered in the name of witchcraft by their relatives or so called witch hunters in cold blood these victims undergo a traumatic experience and suffer a lot throughout their lives such incidents are occurring throughout the country particularly in the tribal areas due to the absence of any specific legislation to deal with the crimes of witchcraft, the assailants are booked under existing ordinary laws all this result in easy acquittal of guilty personsit is, therefore, necessary to enact a law to put a blanket ban on the practice of witchcraft and to provide for stringent punishment for practising or promoting or advertising witchcraft in any form it will also help to prevent the atrocities committed on women in the name of witchcrafthence this billnew delhi;om  prakash  yadavfebrua0ry 18, 2010 memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 8 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill since the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character lok  sabha———— a billto provide for ban on witchcraft in any form in the country————(shri om prakash yadav, mp)gmgipmrnd—903ls(s5)—12032010