Times
of India: Madurai: Thursday, 07 May 2015.
Police
officers close about 30% of the total complaints filed in the state citing
mistake of fact (MF) or mistake of law (ML), among other things, an RTI
petition has revealed. Such cases need not be taken to court for further action
and can be closed at the level of police station.
Evidence, an
NGO through a Right To Information (RTI) application obtained the data for MF
and ML cases registered in 190 police stations between 2010 and 2013 in the
state, besides cases that were marked as undetected (UN) and action dropped
(AD). In these cases too, no charge-sheet is filed, as the cases are closed at
police stations itself.
According to
the RTI reply, 3,01,936 cases were filed in 190 police stations in Tamil Nadu
from January, 2010 to March, 2013.
Of the 96,075
cases filed in 2010, as many as 1,621 were termed as MF cases, while 38 were
marked ML and closed. A total of 997 cases were closed as undetected and 16,386
cases were marked action dropped' on the grounds that it did not require
further action. These police stations registered 93,971 (MF-1,460, ML 37, UN
985, AD 18,126) cases in 2011. In 2012, the number of cases registered was
86,214 (MF 1233, ML -33, UN-665 and AD 19887).
When a case
is categorised as MF, police have to explain the reasons for it to the
complainant. However, when the NGO contacted complainants of many MF cases,
about 90% of them said they had not been given any explanation. The
complainants alleged to the NGO that their cases were closed because their
opponents had used money and muscle power.
The report
states that 30% of the cases filed in police stations are thus closed. It also
notes that 40% of the cases filed under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act
and 35% of women harassment cases were closed by police themselves citing
mistake of facts. In some cases, the complainants themselves withdrew the
cases, reportedly due to pressure and harassment from the people they accuse.
Moreover, 40%
of the cases rule in favour of perpetrators of the crime and the accused is
punished in just 20 to 25% of the cases. In cases of atrocities against dalits,
the conviction rate is just 5-7%, while it is 10-15% in cases related to
atrocities against women.
The NGO said
that when mistake of facts are cited, the complainants should be given three
months to file an appeal and they should also be given a detailed report on why
the case is being closed. Such cases should be reviewed by a special team of
judicial experts before being closed, they said.
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