Conviction low under SC/ST Act
October 3, 2011
By G. JAGANNATH
DC
chennai
Rights activist have expressed anguish over the low conviction rate in
Tamil Nadu in cases booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled
Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and hope that the Vachathi case,
where the judgment was delivered after 19 long years, does not shadow
the huge backlog of rights violation cases against dalits and tribals.
According to state government statistics, 1,280 cases were registered
under the SC/ST Act in 2010. However, only 23 per cent of the cases
ended in conviction, against the average conviction rate of 55.6 per
cent in cases booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front convenor P. Sampath blamed
the government and the police for the declining conviction rate for
cases of atrocities against dalits and tribals.
"Though SC/STs (POA) Act, 1989 is one of the most powerful pieces of
legislation, it implementation remains largely unsatisfactory as the
government and police do not show keen interest in it," Mr Sampath
said, adding that if it was implemented properly, untouchability could
have been brought down.
"In most cases, the police take advantage of the victims' ignorance
and file cases under the milder Indian Penal Code. Only if they
insist, they file cases under the SC/ST Act. Even in such cases, they
accept counter-complaints and use it to threaten the petitioner to
withdraw the complaints," said Mr A. Kathir of NGO Evidence.
Under the Act, a police or government official who wilfully neglects
to perform his/her duties can be punished for negligence. However, no
action has been taken against any official since 1995.
The Act calls for state and district-level monitoring committees, but
they do not exist, he said.
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