Gujarat government’s assurances to Dalits already part of its duty

Patel has been criticised for waking up late to the issue of atrocities on Dalits, that too only after Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati raised it in the Rajya Sabha on July 18. A day before Gujarat Minister for Social Justice Ramanlal Vora in a “timeline” of incidents following the Una episode, posted on Twitter, appeared to blame it on the flogging of Dalits “video going viral”.

In her appeal on July 19, Patel said that her government had moved quickly to arrest 16 accused, suspended four policemen, announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh and would ensure setting up of special courts “in consultation with the High Court” and have chargesheets filed in the case in 60 days. The government transferred the case to the Criminal Investigation Department.

The Prevention of Atrocities Act amended in 2015, directs the government to do these jobs, described as “quick action” by Patel, as part of its duty. Section 4 (2) of the act says, “ The duties of public servant referred to in sub-section (1) shall include — (a) to read out to an informant the information given orally, and reduced to writing by the officer in charge of the police station, before taking the signature of the informant;
(b) to register a complaint or a First Information Report under this Act and other relevant provisions and to register it under appropriate sections of this Act; (c) to furnish a copy of the information so recorded forthwith to the informant; (d) to record the statement of the victims or witnesses; (e) to conduct the investigation and file charge sheet in the Special Court or the Exclusive Special Court within a period of sixty days, and to explain the delay if any, in writing.”

Section 14 (1) of the Act says, “For the purpose of providing for speedy trial, the State Government shall, with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of the High Court, by notification in the Official Gazette, establish an Exclusive Special Court for one or more Districts.” The Act also directs appointment of a special public prosecutor and says, “It shall be the duty of the State Government to establish adequate number of Courts to ensure that cases under this Act are disposed of within a period of two months, as far as possible.” It also directs providing immediate relief “either in cash or kind” to the victims. In fact, the amendments effected in the act expanded the scope of offences to also include “compelling to dispose or carry human or animal carcasses.”
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Dalit activists said the Gujarat government has been going slow on establishing special courts to try cases under the PoA and they have reiterated their demand on this after a fact-finding team visited Una earlier this week. Manjula Pradeep of Navsarjan Trust, which fights for the rights of Dalits, told The Indian Express, “The government has identified 11 districts as atrocities sensitive, but not established any special court.”
Pradeep, who handled the Patan gangrape case of 2008 when a student of Primary Teachers’ Training College was “raped” by her teachers, said,

“Despite our demand, the designated court ran out of a small room in a shopping complex giving no privacy to the victim.” According to Pradeep, the Gujarat government’s implementation of the PoA act is “weakest” in the country. She said, “In Madhya Pradesh, the government has designated special police stations to report cases under this Act. While in Gujarat violative incidents under PoA have been on the rise, but there has been no action”.

The Chief Minister has also announced protection to the victims, again part of the duty of the state government as part of the PoA act which reads: “It shall be the duty and responsibility of the State to make arrangements for the protection of victims, their dependents, and witnesses against any kind of intimidation or coercion or inducement or violence or threats of violence”.

Even as the Gujarat government tries to put its act together to contain the embarrassment caused by the viral video of flogging of Dalits, the Twitter timeline posted by Vora — who had visited the victims only on July 20 along with Patel — listed out the developments from July 11, and went on to say : “July 17: video of the flogging of dalit youths goes viral, July 18: 3 pm Scheduled Caste MLAs, and other leaders met chief minister and urged her to take immediate action, July 18: Hon MP Mayawatiji’s statement in the rajya sabha”, and subsequently lists the action taken by the Gujarat Chief Minister.

Neither Vora, nor Cabinet minister and BJP Gujarat chief Vijay Rupani were available for comment.