Court convicts column-writer under Atrocities Act

Mumbai, Jan 27 (PTI) A special Prevention of AtrocitiesAct'' court today convicted a column-writer for making casteistcomments in a write-up published in a local tabloid.

Anish Trivedi, a columnist, had written on the bad stateof affairs at government offices, and attributed it to thereservation policy.

The special court today convicted Trivedi and sentencedhim to six months'' imprisonment, and fine of Rs 25,000.

The case dates back to April 30, 2006, when Trivedi wrotean article titled Children of a lesser God'', blaming caste-based reservations for bad governance.

A case was then registered with the Bhoiwada policestation under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes(Prevention of Atrocities) Act after some Dalit activistsfiled a complaint.

"The column was derogatory and directly attacked theDalits. He not only tried connecting the inefficientgovernment offices with caste reservations, but at severalplaces he made distasteful comments, which were clearlycasteist," said public prosecutor Shrikant Dukhande.