The Indian Express: Mumbai: Wednesday,
September 07, 2016.
WHILE various
political groups have sought a review of The Scheduled Castes and Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act claiming that provisions of the law are being
misused against members of the upper castes, numbers released by the state tell
a different story. The total number of cases filed in Maharashtra exclusively
under the Prevention of Atrocities Act have actually fallen in the last five
years, from 319 in 2010 to 290 in 2015.
In 2005,
nearly 30 per cent of all crimes committed against Dalits were booked under the
Atrocities Act. That number has complaints. We want to find out if there has
been burking on the part of the police officers or ignorance of law among the
members of these communities which have led to such poor numbers,” Quaiser
Khalid, Special Inspector General of Police, Protection of Civil Rights (PCR)
of the Maharashtra Police, told The Indian Express. PCR is a special cell of
the Maharashtra Police which oversees the implementation of PCR Act and SC ST
(POA) Act in the state.
Other than
the survey, the Maharashtra Police along with the Social Welfare Department has
also started a sensitisation drive both for police officers across the state
and locals. The drive aims to ensure that the police don’t treat a complaint
that otherwise merits registration of an FIR under the two Acts as a
Non-Cognisable (NC) Offence, which is one of the reasons suspected behind poor
registration of complaints.
Going by the
data obtained by The Indian Express procured through an appeal filed under the
Right To Information (RTI) Act, the state has seen a rise in complaints filed
under the POA and PCR from 1,700 to 1,800 registered in 2010 to 2,100 to 2,300
complaints being registered in the last few years, However, that is just one
per cent of the total complaints registered in the state. In contrast, states
such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have more First Information
Reports or FIRs registered under the two Acts than those registered in
Maharashtra.
The data also
reveals a pattern in these complaints: While certain pockets of Maharashtra
have always witnessed a high number of complaints being registered under the
two Acts, this year the maximum complaints have been registered in Ahmednagar
and Marathwada’s Parbhani district.
“Other than
discarding the complaints as non-cognisable, the other trend that we found was
that in over 60 per cent of the cases, the provisions of these two Acts have
been added just because the complainant belongs to SC or ST. Of these, most of
the cases pertain to land disputes. With the cases under POA and PCR being less
than 40 per cent, the study undertaken by us will help us find out the problem
areas, so that we fix those,” another official attached to the office of the Director
General of Police office told The Indian Express.
“In the last
two years, we have seen a rise in registration of complaints in Parbhani area.
While in the past too Parabhani saw many plaints being registered under the two
Acts, the rise in the numbers is also a part of the study that is being
undertaken by us,” said the official.
According to
data, between 2013 and 2015, the maximum number of complaints have been
registered in Vidharbha’s Yavatamal district.
While in
2013, 153 complaints under the two Acts were registered, 147 and 137 complaints
have been registered in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Ahmednagar is next, with
111 cases registered in 2013, and 115 and 116 registered in 2014 and 2015.
However this
year, according to the figures available with The Indian Express, till July
2016, Ahmednagar has the maximum complaints registered under the two Acts.
While 82 complaints have been registered at Ahmednagar, Marathwada’s Parbhani
area saw the second most number of plaints with 73 complaints registered till
July. Yavatmal has the third largest complaints with 72 FIRs registered till
July this year.
“With the
maximum number of complaints being registered in Yavatwal and Ahmednagar, we
have started our sensitisation drive in these districts. The drive is also
being carried out in Amravati. The purpose is to educate and sensitise the
policemen so that they can assist the members of the SC, ST community to lodged
a complaint whenever they approach the police station. On the other hand, we
also want the community members to be aware of their rights and aim to educate
them on the provisions of the Act and the various legal remedies available to
them so that their rights or freedom is not infringed,” said Khalid.
.JPG)
.JPG)
