The police will now have to take the consent of a panel headed by a retired high court judge before arresting someone under the MCOCA.
Panel to review case papers before giving police permission to slap MCOCA charges
The police will now have to take the consent of a panel headed by a retired high court judge before arresting someone under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
Now, the panel will review all case papers and then give the police permission to slap charges under MCOCA. The state home department has taken the step to prevent possible misuse of the Act. The minority community had accused the Maharashtra Police in general and Mumbai Police in particular of misusing the Act, which came into effect in 1999.
The home department had set up a committee, headed by former Chief Justice of Bombay HC Chandrashekhar Dharmadhikari, to look into such allegations. The committee has recently submitted its report to Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister RR Patil.
A close aide of Patil said the report was still to be officially opened. Though the committee had not found any evidence of such happenings in the past, it was possible that some present officers might have arbitrarily used MCOCA. “The committee’s biggest recommendation is to remove this anomaly and introduce a safeguard in the form of a panel headed by an impartial retired former HC judge. This will certainly remove the misconception among Muslims that the Act was being misused against them,” the aide said. The committee, however, has not found any evidence to nail a group of police officers or a particular individual for misusing the Act.
Justice Dharmadhikari said, “The committee has submitted the report, which is still to be opened and accepted by the government. So, it will be inappropriate of me to comment.”
Special Public Prosecutor Ujwal Nikam, who has fought several cases of MCOCA in the past, said, “I welcome this decision for two reasons. It will save the police from allegations of misuse and the application of a judicial mind will be there in the case right from the beginning.” He cited the SC judgment in Kartarsingh case. “In that judgement, SC too had recommended the constitution of a review committee for Tada cases. In that context, if a review committee is started for MCOCA cases, it’s a welcome step,” he said.
Vice-chairman of Minorities Commission of Maharashtra Abraham Mathai said, “It is a welcome move to curb the misuse of MCOCA and will go a long way to restore the confidence of minorities. The home minister should also consider using MCOCA against Hindutva forces for carrying out organised attacks on Christians.”
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