Govt admits SC, ST conviction rate in Gujarat is very low, 'decides' to hire low paid lawyers to overcome lag

In a major admission, the Gujarat government has said that government pleaders are so preoccupied with their jobs that they are “unable to address” and give “enough time” to fight cases related with Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. A government resolution (GR) issued by the state’s social justice and empowerment department with the specific intention of raising the conviction rate of atrocities cases has said that in the recent past the state government has witnessed a sharp fall in the ability to take up atrocity cases.
“Compared to many other states, the number of cases in which there is a failure to arrive at any conclusion in atrocity cases has gone up in Gujarat”, the GR admits, adding, the rate of success in the atrocities cases in the state is actually “negligible”. “In order to increase the success rate of conviction in atrocities cases and ensure their effectiveness, the Gujarat government has decided to provide certain concessions in the present rules by allowing private lawyers to be hired to fight atrocity cases”, the GR says. Till now, only government pleaders were allowed to fight atrocity cases.
And how does the Gujarat government want to increase the conviction rate? By allowing the complainants, belonging to SC or ST section, to “hire” a “private lawyer” or her or his liking, says the GR. And how much would the state government pay to such a “private lawyer” for this? The GR fixes the following maximum amount: Rs 50,000 in the case of murder and Rs 25,000 in the case of rape or any other major criminal case. The complainant, the GR says, can “take advantage of having a private lawyer through the backward class welfare official in each district.” It adds, the state government has set aside Rs 3.35 crore in the financial year 2013-14 for this.
The GR further says, under the scheme, the amount that the government would pay would have to follow the following criterion: “The private lawyer’s fee or government offer, whichever is lower”. It does not, however, say what the complainant should do in case the lawyer’s fee is higher than the maximum amount fixed! Then, 50 per cent of the amount would be paid to the private lawyer before the start of the case, while the rest of the 50 per cent would be paid after the end of the case. Further, “Only those private lawyers would be allowed to fight cases, who have at least 10 years the experience of taking up criminal cases”, the GR points out.
The GR says, “Priority would be given to scheduled tribe or caste private lawyers, though much would depend on the choice of the complainant.” At the same time, the GR points out, the cases would have to be taken up taking into account “limited government resources allocated during the current financial year”. It adds, “In future, efforts would be made to allocate a higher fund. In the meanwhile, it would be necessary to confine oneself to allocating the limited resources available for this.” The decision on this was taken, the GR informs, between the last week of April and first week of April.
Criticising the GR, a senior activist, Kantilal Parmar, told Counterview, “It is difficult to understand how the state government fixed the amount and under what criterion to pay to a private lawyer. Which private lawyer would agree for such a small amount?” Parmar, who belongs to Ahmedabad-based NGO Navsarjan Trust, said, “This is the surest attempt to shoo away best of the advocates to fight atrocity cases. We all know, how much do they charge. Some of them charge Rs 10,000 as single sitting consultation fees. Which world is the government living in?”
According to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, conviction rate of atrocities against Dalits in Gujarat is one of the lowest in India. ML Punia, chairman of the commission, was quoted as saying in Gandhinagar that Gujarat may be a developed rate, but when it comes to conviction of those who have been booked under the atrocities Act, it is just about 3.5 per cent. This, he added, is against a whopping 34 per cent conviction rate in the country as a whole.

Comments

When Pakistanis whispered: ‘end military rule’ — A Moscow memoir

During the recent anti-terror operation inside Pakistan by the Government of India, called Operation Sindoor — a name some feminists consider patently patriarchal, even though it’s officially described as a tribute to the wives of the 26 husbands killed in the terrorist strike — I was reminded of my Moscow stint, which lasted for seven long years, from 1986 to 1993.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

RP Gupta a scapegoat to help Govt of India manage fallout of Adani case in US court?

RP Gupta, a retired 1987-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, has found himself at the center of a growing controversy. During my tenure as the Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar (1997–2012), I often interacted with him. He struck me as a straightforward officer, though I never quite understood why he was never appointed to what are supposed to be top-tier departments like industries, energy and petrochemicals, finance, or revenue.

Environmental report raises alarm: Sabarmati one of four rivers with nonylphenol contamination

A new report by Toxics Link , an Indian environmental research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi, in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund , a global non-profit headquartered in New York, has raised the alarm that Sabarmati is one of five rivers across India found to contain unacceptable levels of nonylphenol (NP), a chemical linked to "exposure to carcinogenic outcomes, including prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women."

PharmEasy: The only online medical store which revises prices upwards after confirming the order

For senior citizens — especially those without a family support system — ordering medicines online can be a great relief. Shruti and I have been doing this for the last couple of years, and with considerable success. We upload a prescription, receive a verification call from a doctor, and within two or three days, the medicines are delivered to our doorstep.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Revisiting Gijubhai: Pioneer of child-centric education and the caste debate

It was Krishna Kumar, the well-known educationist, who I believe first introduced me to the name — Gijubhai Badheka (1885–1939). Hailing from Bhavnagar, known as the cultural capital of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Gijubhai, Kumar told me during my student days, made significant contributions to the field of pedagogy — something that hasn't received much attention from India's education mandarins. At that time, Kumar was my tutorial teacher at Kirorimal College, Delhi University.

A sector under siege? War and real estate: Navigating uncertainty in India's expanding market

I was a little surprised when I received an email alert from a top real estate consultant, Anarock Group , titled "Exploring War’s Effects on Indian Real Estate—When Conflict Meets Concrete," authored by its regional director and head of research, Dr. Prashant Thakur. I had thought that the business would wholeheartedly support what is considered a strong response to the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor.

Search This Blog