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PIL alleges Maha Govt's apathy towards dalits, HC seeks reply
Updated on Thursday, August 05, 2010, 20:47
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court today asked the Maharashtra Government
to file an affidavit within three weeks informing whether it had
forwarded reports to the Centre in the last five years on
implementation of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act in the state.
The direction was given by Justices Ranjana Desai and Vijaya
Kapse-Tahilramani on a PIL filed by NGO National Dalit Movement for
Justice, which alleged that the Act was not being implemented in
Maharashtra.
Public Prosecutor Pandurang Pol informed the bench that a high-powered
committee had been formed recently under the Chairmanship of Chief
Minister Ashok Chavan to oversee the implementation of the Act.
Pol further told the court that the file concerning appointment of a
Nodal officer to oversee implementation of the Act had been referred
to the Chief Minister and said within a fortnight a decision would be
taken in this regard.
Counsel for the petitioner, Sanghraj Rupawate, alleged since many
years the Government had not constituted a high- powered committee
under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister to oversee the
implementation of the Act. Besides, he said, nodal officer had not
been appointed in accordance with the rules framed under the Act in
1995.
He said all the states had to submit reports every year on
implementation of the Act to the Centre which tables the reports
before the Parliament. However, the Maharashtra government had not
followed this practice.
Rupawate said the PIL was based on 43 cases of atrocities committed on
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe members from various districts of
Maharashtra.
The PIL brought to the notice of the High Court various gaps and
negligence by the implementing authorities at different levels in
effective implementation of Act.
According to the PIL, vigilance and monitoring committees set up under
Rule 16 and 17 of the rules framed under the Act were not properly
constituted and were not functioning at all in the state. The
government was also not sending report to the Centre on March 31 every
year as stipulated under the rules.
The PIL alleged that the state was not performing its specific
responsibility in accordance with Rule 14 of the Act to review twice
in a year the performance of prosecutors, consider reports received
and investigations made in atrocity cases apart from ascertaining
preventive steps taken by police and district magistrates and
rehabilitation measures taken to help the victims.
The PIL further alleged that in many cases FIRs were not registered at
all and, if registered, proper sections of the Act were not applied.
Besides, the accused were also not arrested immediately.
The PIL contended that in special courts set up under the Act special
public prosecutors were not appointed to conduct the trial.
PTI
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