http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Khairlanji-verdict-triggers-change-in-anti-communal-bill/articleshow/6215651.cms
Khairlanji verdict triggers change in anti-communal bill
Subodh Ghildiyal, TNN, Jul 26, 2010, 03.27am IST
NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi is said have expressed
shock at the court ruling that Khairlanji perpetrators were not driven
by anti-dalit bias in carrying out the macabre rape and murder, a
reaction which is guiding the changes in the proposed communal
violence legislation.
The Congress chief was shocked when, during a recent discussion on
communal violence bill at the National Advisory Council, Narendra
Jadhav raised the Khairlanji issue, saying it was "distressing" that
the perpetrators of such heinous caste crimes got away with lower
punishment. He was referring to the High Court's commuting of the
death sentence and, worse, clearing the accused of a caste taint.
Sources said Sonia asked "why it happened", to which Jadhav said the
case was weakened by the police which did not book the accused under
the Prevention of Atrocities (SC/ST) Act.
While a probe was demanded on why PoA was not pressed in the
Khairlanji case, the NAC members raised concern that the communal
violence bill may also prove ineffectual if authorities did not invoke
it in relevant cases.
NAC is learnt to be discussing provisions to ensure that the communal
violence bill is enforced in relevant cases and a malafide intent in
not doing so invites punishment. It involves making it easy to book
officials for malafide intent unlike the present conditions which are
difficult to prove.
"It will act as a deterrent," said an insider, adding, "We are drawing
lessons from the failure of PoA Act. What is the point in having a law
which is not implemented."
The move seems to be towards hiking the punishment for errant
officials by including jail sentence and fine. As of now, it is either
jail or small fine, which is not deterrent enough.
The Khairlanji case faltered on the crucial test of being a caste
atrocity because the cops did not invoke the PoA Act in the FIR. The
issue has agitated activists ever since a local court in 2008 gave
death sentence to the accused but cleared them of anti-dalit
motivation. The then social justice minister Meira Kumar had raised
alarm, telling Maharashtra and the Centre that such verdicts would
make PoA Act "irrelevant".
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