Atrocities against Scheduled Castes high in Rajasthan: Meira

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Jaipur, Jan 15 (UNI) Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar has expressed concern over the increasing incidents of atrocities against the Scheduled Castes in Rajasthan and the delay in delivering justice to the victims.

The minister, while speaking on the second meeting of the committee, constituted to review and monitor the cases under the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities)Act 1989 of the four states of Assam, Bihar, Haryana and Rajasthan here today.

Ms Kumar said more than five thousand cases under the Prevention of Atrocities(PoA) Act were registered during 2004 in Rajasthan, which works out to be about three cases per ten thousand of total SC and ST population. This is far higher than in the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab with similar population profile but had a ratio of one case to per lakh SC and ST population. In the case of West Bengal, with 29 per cent SC population has a little over one case per lakh population.

''In Rajasthan, on an average, 66 per cent of total cases under PoA Act were pending in courts during the year 2000-04, though 17 Exclusive Special Courts for trail of such cases have been set up''.

In case of Bihar, out of forty-two cases registered under Protection of Civil Rights(PCR) Act during the year 2000-04, 19 have been closed, while the remaining 23 are still under investigation.

Over 11,000 cases have been registered with the police for past four years under PoA Act, but chargesheet were filed in hardly ten per cent cases. As regards, disposal of cases by the courts, only three per cent cases ended in conviction.

In Haryana, with regard to disposal of cases by courts, judgemnents were passed in seven cases out of 32, but their was only one conviction. Under the POA Act, the extent of acquittal since the year 2000 has been over 80 per cent.

While in Assam, not even one case was decided in five years.

''It is a sorry state of affairs if the registraion of cases, which is in the very first instace an uphill task, is followed by inaction or indecision,'' Ms Kumar said.

UNI

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