'Cops Arbitrarily Closed 23pc FIRs in 3 Years'

Indian Express: Madurai: Monday, 04 May 2015.

The Tamil Nadu police have closed  over 20 per cent of the cases filed by them in 190 police stations across the State in 39 months till March 2013, a data collected by an NGO has shown. This otherwise means the police citing their investigation have recommended that no further action is required.

Based on the data obtained through the Right To Information (RTI) Act, Evidence, the Madurai-based NGO working on Dalit issues, has claimed that 23 per cent of First Information Reports (FIRs) filed at 190 police stations across 10 districts from 2010 to March 2013 have been closed by the police themselves without filing chargesheets or beginning the trial process.

These cases have been closed under four categories Mistake of Fact (MF), Mistake of Law (ML), Undetected (UD) and Action Dropped (AD). Among them, cases closed under AD category tops the list with over 90 per cent.

The details have been collected from police stations in 10 districts covering all belts Namakkal, Dharmapuri, Coimbatore, Ramanathapuram, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, Kancheepuram, Karur, Nagapattinam and Tiruvannamalai.

The data also show a gradual increase in the per centage of closed FIRs over three and a quarter years. In 2010, 20.3 per cent of 96,075 cases; in 2011, 22 per cent of 93,971 cases; in 2012, 25.3 per cent of 86,214 cases; and 30 per cent of 25,676 cases in the first three months of 2013 have seen closure.

Evidence executive director A Kathir alleged  that in a vast majority of cases, the police failed to give a proper reason to the complainants for closing the cases.

“Political influence apart, influence by dominant communities and money power play a role. Some retired police officers told us that the statements are recorded during the registration of FIRs in such a way that it would weaken the case,” he alleged.

Claiming that the trend was worrisome, Kathir alleged that it was worse in cases filed under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act.

“Though we could not obtain information through RTI on this, our experience in handling such cases shows that around 40 per cent under the SC/ST Act and 35 per cent under the Women Harassment Act have been closed,” he alleged.

Reacting to the allegations, a senior police officer, on condition of anonymity, said, “As per the law, we are bound to file FIRs. Only a probe can bring the truth out. A large number of false complaints do get registered and the police cannot file chargesheets in such cases.”

Pointing out that adequate safety measures were in place, he said, “The entire process involves the judiciary. If the cases are to be closed under MF, ML, AD or UD categories, we have to file an  FIR copy along with the probe findings before the magistrate who would serve an RC (Referred Case) notice to the complainant detailing the reason. The complainant can raise concerns if any and the cases can be reopened anytime.”