The provision to install cameras was incorporated after the Act was amended in December 2015. The new law was to have come into force from January 26, 2016. However, there was a delay.
For the first time in Maharashtra, a sessions court has asked the state government to install cameras to record evidences in cases falling under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The provision to install cameras was incorporated after the Act was amended in December 2015. The new law was to have come into force from January 26, 2016. However, there was a delay.
The amendment required the video-recording of the entire proceedings of a case – right from the victim’s visit to the police station till the final conclusion.
One of the other amendments stipulated that the complainant needs to be in court during proceedings, and if he is absent, the proceedings would not take place. The state would have to pay for the transportation of the victim.
Advocate Nitin Satpute, special public prosecutor, told dna that the law was amended to speed up trials and increase conviction rates.
“I filed an application to install cameras in the court as per the amendment and the court has asked the state to do so,” he said.
What prompted the move was an assault case in April 2016. Pravin Kamble, a Kurla resident, was assaulted at his residence by one of his friends, Mohammed Zaffar Alam Akhtar Rine, over a real-estate deal.
“Though Kamble went to the police station, the police did not register a complaint. A non-cognisable offence was registered against the accused in May 2016, but only after Kamble approached the DCP office,” he said.
“Now that we have the right to seek video recordings, we are going to ask for the same from the police, in order to check whether there are any lapses in the investigation,” he said.
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