NATIONAL CAMPAIGN ON DALIT HUMAN RIGHTS - NCDHR
Draft Recommendations submitted to the PADC – Police Reform Drafting Committee
Dalits – Legislations and the Role of Police
Daily life is continuing to be marred by incessant human rights violations in the form of atrocities and archaic untouchability practices. Till today for the majority of Dalits, regardless of education or economic status, journeying through life as a Dalit entails daily subjugation, humiliation and exclusion from India’s mainstream caste society, commencing from birth, and childhood to adult and until death.
‘Descent and work-based discrimination’ continues to circumscribe Dalit’s access to and ownership of livelihood resources, occupational mobility and opportunities for socio-economic development, relegating them to among the poorest of the poor across the country. And while Dalits are becoming increasingly aware of and asserting their fundamental rights – to justice, equality, non-discrimination and basic human dignity, a corresponding backlash is taking place in terms of the increasing number of caste-based atrocities perpetrated by the dominant caste community.
Union Government enacted Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and SC/ST (PoA) Act 1989 to protect the Life and Security of Dalits from the stigma’ of untouchability and caste based atrocities that are deep rooted in the Indian society. The ostensible objective was to remove humiliations and multifaceted harassments meted out to this hapless section of the citizens, and to ensure their fundamental and civil human rights. However, even decades after implementation of the aforesaid Acts, the required objective was not achieved. On the contrary, the situation had worsened and reports after reports expressed the need for a more effective law and its proper implementation.
Police inaction and their direct complicity and participation in perpetuating atrocities against Dalits is a major human rights concern. A large number of cases of torture and custodial violence, rape and sexual abuse, forced evictions, unwarranted use of force are reported on a regular basis. In its report on caste violence, Human Rights Watch noted, "Laws designed to ensure that Dalits enjoy equal rights and protection have seldom been enforced. Instead, police refuse to register complaints about violations of the law and rarely prosecute those responsible for abuses that range from murder and rape to exploitative labour practices and forced displacement from Dalit lands and homes."
It is in this context that NCDHR - National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights and its Platform members had a consultation on 2 April 06 along with CHRI to intervene with a set of recommendations to the Police Act Drafting Committee (PADC). The following are the concerns and recommendations that we would like to bring before the committee to ensure the concerns of Scheduled Castes (Dalits) who are vulnerable and excluded and always at the receiving end at the hands of the Non Dalits and Police.
CONCERNS of Dalits:
POLICE NEGLIGENCE AND COLLUSION - REPORTS OF NHRC, COMMISSIONS OF STATE GOVERNMENTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS: SOME OBSERVATIONS
1. Victims are deterred from making complaints of atrocities and as a result FIRs are rarely registered or registered late: NHRC Report on Atrocities against Scheduled Castes (2002) states that the problem “starts with registration of the case itself. Police resort to various machinations to discourage Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes from registering cases, to dilute the seriousness of the violence, to shield the accused from getting arrested and prosecution and, in some cases, the police themselves inflict violence”. Under reporting of Atrocities Act cases is a very common phenomenon. The report further observes that “even in respect of heinous crimes, the police machinery in many States has been deliberately avoiding to register cases under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989”. The non-registration of cases, apart from reflecting caste bias and corruption, has also been attributed to the pressure on the police to keep reported crime rates low in their jurisdiction.
2. FIRs registered without reference to proper sections of the Act: In many cases where police do register a case under the Act, they do not cite proper sections. For serious crimes, which includes murder, rape, destruction of property, dispossession of land, fouling of drinking water sources, etc., police are only citing sec. 3(1)(x) of the Act, which section relates to insulting or intimidating a SC/ST person with intent to humiliate him or her in public view. One of the reasons for police commonly citing this section is that this denotes to the most minor offence under the Act and generally attracts the least punishment or to do away with the punishment. In this way, they misuse the Act and allow the perpetrators, if convicted, to get away with lighter punishment. Majority of cases never brought within the purview of the law at all or registered under this Act due to police failure/ refusal to register cases, thereby neglecting their official duties and colluding with the perpetrators of atrocities.
3. Charge sheets in atrocity cases are invariably filed late: Besides non-registration of cases despite merit, there are delays in investigation, collusion with offenders and manipulation of witnesses and evidence - all of which contribute to reduce the effectiveness of legislation on atrocities. The report of Sakshi states that in Andhra Pradesh mere 4.9 percent of cases registered under the Atrocities Act were actually charge sheeted. Only in 9.3% cases charge sheets are filed within the stipulated time of 30 days. Even if we take the Cr.P.C. time limit of 90 days, charge sheets are filed in only 31% of cases. For about 28% of cases the investigation agency is taking more than 365 days. Therefore, delay in Investigation and charge sheet filing are a common feature with regard to the cases relating to Dalits.
4. Accused invariably not arrested and allowed to roam free: NHRC Report and Justice Punnayya Commission Report of Andhra Pradesh observed that “in the several representations presented to the One man Commission of Andhra Pradesh, they stated that in their cases, the Sub-Inspectors or Circle-Inspectors did not arrest the assailants who committed the atrocities even though, the Sub-Inspectors or the Inspectors of Police, recorded F.I.Rs and registered cases”.
5. Victims deterred by police colluding with accused persons in filing false counter cases: Victims deterred by police colluding with accused persons in filing false counter cases That the One man commission on Untouchability and atrocities in the state of Andhra Pradesh chaired by Justice K. Punnayya observed that “the tendency, on the part of the Sub-Inspectors or Inspectors of Police in not registering cases on the complaints given by the SCs and STs is on the increase. At the same time, the tendency on the part of Sub-Inspectors or Circle-Inspectors to entertain indiscriminately the counter complaints and to arrest the SC complainants on the basis of counter compalints is increasing”.
“Whenever the SC or ST victim of atrocity presents a report to the Sub-Inspector or Circle-Inspector in charge of Police Station and if he records F.I.R., and registers a case, the Sub-Inspector or Circle-Inspector should arrest the assailant or assailants who committed the atrocity on the complaint of SC person. But the Sub-Inspector or Circle-Inspector who recorded the F.I.R., and registered a case did not arrest the assailants except in rare cases. On the other hand, it is stated in their representations that those assailants against whom the SC victims presented complaints, lodge counter complaints to the Police against SC-victims and the Sub-Inspectors or Circle-Inspectors register counter cases against the SCs (Victims) and immediately arrest them as well. When a counter complaint is presented by the assailant who is the accused in the complaint preferred by the SC-victim, it was filed obviously with the sole intention to counter blast the complaint filed by the SC-victim. As a result of the counter cases, the real SC victims of the atrocities are being arrested and subjected to criminal litigation as accused in the counter cases”. This theory of “counter complaints” is hatched by police at the instance of the perpetrators, to mount pressure on the Dalit Victims to forge a forced compromise with the real culprits, in order to make the Dalits to come out from the false cases lodged against them. Police invariably colludes with the perpetrators of violence and render injustice to the real Dalit victims.
6. Investigations invariably done in a shabby fashion: As per the NHRC report, the progress of investigation of cases by police analysed from the governmental data indicates that number of charge sheeted cases was 53.04% of the total no. of cases while 22.54% of cases were closed after investigation and number of cases pending with police at the end of the year constituted 24.42% and thus a total of 30,350 cases registered during 2000 as many as 8336 cases where closed after investigation without any trial and 9,027 cases were still pending investigation. According to another data of a total 1,43,505 cases in courts in years 2000, 1,32,268 cases were pending, 9996 were acquitted and 1241 ended in conviction. Many cases in this list of atrocities are those where excesses have been committed by members of law enforcement machinery themselves”.
A report of Report of Human Rights Watch, 1999 that relied on a book named “ Broken People”, that in turn relied on comprehensively researched reports, and recent violence on SCs in Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and the various facets of atrocities, has highlighted through specific instances finds that the potential of SCs and STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 has not been tapped due to incompetence, corruption and bias of police machinery and failure of Government to punish guilty officials of police for their lapses.
7. Investigation often not done by the Dy. SP but by the junior officers rendering the trial illegal: That despite express provision( viz. Rule 7)under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995, that
“[a]n offence committed under the Act shall be investigated by a police officer not below the rank of a Deputy Superintendent of Police. The investigating officer shall be appointed by the State Government/Director General of Police/Superintendent of Police after taking into account his past experience, sense of ability and justice to perceive the implications of the case and investigate it along with right lines within the shortest possible time.”
An analysis of numerous cases carried out by various organizations show that investigations done by a police officer, lower rank than Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) are numerous. It is a gross violation that the cases were investigated by police officers lower to the rank of DSP who have not explicitly be appointed under this Rule 7 and during the trial, on this technical ground, the case is vitiated and weakened.
8. Preventive steps as specified in the Act hardly ever taken: Despite the fact that atrocities have been existing for generations, and the need for preventive steps were expressed too often by various reports and especially by this Act, this has not been taken care of by the Police which amounts to gross violation. That simple preventive measures could help a lot to stop large scale atrocities and some of the worst forms of miseries that humans perpetuate on fellow humans.
9. High level of Criminalisation and apathy: Much against to the parameters of this SC/ST (POA) Act 1989 and also the CrPC, Police is known for its High level of Criminalisation, daily incidents of committing brutality, inflicting torture, perpetuating custodial death, caught in the tentacles of corruption and favoritism , forging false cases against Dalits who raise their voice for justice or HRs.
10. No Adherence to CrPC: Police do not care to comply with the provisions of Cr.PC. Dalits are always taken to custody in the name of investigation and illegally detained in Lock Ups for several days and they are never produced before the Magistrate within 24 hours of their arrest. Dalits are either forced to forge compromise with the Non Dalit perpetrators against whom they preferred complaints or to admit the false charges forged on them. Dalits face the wrath of the Police in the Lock Ups. The poor Dalits are doubly attacked first by the Non Dalit perpetrators and later by the Police in their custody.
NHRC report 2002 on Prevention of Atrocities on Scheduled Caste states that “this behaviour of the police reflects a deeply embedded caste bias if not openly exposed.
NCDHR enumerates the following reasons as under :
i. Most police and revenue officers belong to the dominant castes. Though some lower caste officers are now coming up in these positions, but their number is still small and they may not be given crucial or prominent positions or may be circumscribed in their action under pressure from their controlling officers in the hierarchy or by the Politicians.
ii. Police personnel are not sensitized to take note of the atrocities and discrimination unleashed on Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, seriously. Police still remain with their feudal values and discriminatory attitudes. There is no adequate supervision on their performance and accountability, besides they act as puppets in the hands of the Politicians.