Poor implementation of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 deprived a majority of atrocity victims of free and fair trial in the State, according to Dalit Adhikar Sangathan (DAS), an Odisha-based organisation.
An analysis by DAS, on the basis of information compiled through the exercise of the RTI Act, says that although charge-sheets were filed in more than 100 cases in four districts of Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Keonjhar and Ganjam, not a single ended in conviction between 2010 and 2013.
“In a three year period between 2010 and 2013, 44 people in Puri district were acquitted while there was no conviction under Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
It shows poor implementation of the Act,” charged Jugal Kishore Ranjit, State coordinator of DAS.
Similarly, not a single person was charge-sheeted within 30 days in six districts such as Puri, Balasore, Gajapati, Nabarangpur, Keonjhar and Ganjam between 2010 and 2013, while 684 cases were pending for investigation.
None of the district collectors had sent proposals for the rehabilitation of death victims and therefore none of the next of kin of deceased in Odisha were rehabilitated, the DAS coordinator said.
The organisation demanded the appointment of a high level committee to review the implementation of the Act, assess the realisation of its objectives and take appropriate action for effective implementation of the Act.
