With this Act, cops aim to keep anti-socials off the streets & use it as a tool for its rightful function.
Taking the ‘prevention is better than cure’ route to reduce crime, the city police proposed the booking of as many as 939 offenders under Prevention of Anti-Social Activity (Pasa) Act in 2013. A majority of these offenders are bootleggers, comprising over 550 of the total, suggest data provided by the reader branch of city police.
The data also reveal that the overall figure of Pasa proposals was higher in 2013 than 2012. At the same time, externment proposals of as many as 298 criminals were given during the year.
According to the data, 939 offenders booked by them for various offences in 2013 were proposed to be charged under Pasa Act and jailed for up to one year. This figure was nearly 10% (91) higher than the 848 booked under the Act in 2012.
Explaining the significance of the Act, city commissioner of police Shivanand Jha said, “With more Pasa proposals in the past year, we aim to keep such anti-social elements off the streets and are using the Act as a tool for its rightful function. If more of these proposals translate into convictions, the crime rate of such offences will be reduced in the city.”
Crimes against property (thefts, break-in), against a person (violence, rape), bootlegging, carrying unlicensed arms, illicit trade as well as cow slaughter among others comprise activities for which a criminal may be charged under Pasa. Further details availed from the city police’s Prevention of Crime Branch (PCB) show that a majority of the 939 criminals booked under Pasa Act in 2013 are bootleggers – 556. Other major offences, under which many criminals were booked during the past year, include dangerous property-related (165) and dangerous person (body)-related offences (107).
It should be noted that these proposals are considered by a Pasa board, which then ascertains the offender’s eligibility for conviction under the same, after studying records of up to four years prior. Following this, the Pasa sentence is passed and the accused is jailed. Subsequently, the board periodically reviews the convict’s appeal for release and may grant an early release depending on the correction in behaviour observed till then. The next of kin of such a person may file for review of the sentence in high court, immediately after the sentence is passed, said a legal expert.
Another crime prevention action within the police’s powers is externment, where a person is legally disallowed entry into a particular city and its surrounding areas over a specified period of time. As per police data, 298 offenders were proposed to be externed by the city police in 2013. This figure is significantly higher than the 184 proposals given in 2012, the data stated.
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