Mumbai: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday cautioned against possible misuse of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The quality of investigations carried out under the Act must improve, while cases registered in the past five years need to be studied to understand the impact of the Act, the Chief Minister said during a meeting of the the State Level High Power Vigilance and Monitoring Committee.
The State government has been facing pressure from the agitating Maratha community to review and amend certain sections of the Act, which have allegedly been misused in the rural areas. Mr. Fadnavis directed the police and State Home Department to ensure injustice is not done to complainants from the backward communities. “This will help us maintain harmony and fear of the law. Proper investigation will help in conviction. The Home Department should act in coordination to increase the quality of investigation in registered crimes. Proper planning is necessary to complete this in time,” the Chief Minister said.
Mr. Fadnavis also directed the relevant departments to publicise vital sections of the Act and make them simpler for the citizen to understand. The judiciary and courts must be upgraded to ensure faster trials of cases registered under the Act, he said.
“We are opening more courts in parts of Maharasthra to deal with such cases,” he said. The State government is doing everything possible to deal with such cases. The government is also committed to giving jobs to victims under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, pension, government land or house, and their rehabilitation, he said.