Act protecting govt servants to be amended after MLAs allege misuse

The Maharashtra state government in India has announced plans to amend Section 353A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) following complaints of misuse by police officers against Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). The section provides protection to public servants from physical attacks or threats while performing their duties. The amendment is expected to reduce some of the protective cover given to government servants. An inquiry will also be conducted against a police officer accused of filing false cases against MLAs.

Mumbai: After an uproar by elected representatives on Wednesday regarding the misuse of Section 353 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by government servants, especially police officers, against MLAs, the state government announced that it would amend the section. The latter gives protection to public servants from physical attack or threats while performing their duties.

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In 2017, an amendment to the section recommended by the state was carried out by the Centre and added to the IPC. By this amendment, the punishment for an offence under the section was increased from two years to five years. After Wednesday’s complaints from MLAs, the government is now expected to dilute the section and reduce some of the protective cover given to government servants.

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, while speaking in the assembly, said that there had been complaints even earlier of gross misuse of the section. “The section was added by making amendments to the IPC after the rise in attacks on public servants,” he said. “We brought in the amendment to protect them but it is being utilised as a sword by a few police officers. In one instance, a case was registered against an MLA just because he spoke with the officer in a loud voice. The section is expected to be used against physical attack and not verbal spats with officers.”

Fadnavis said he was convinced that the section needed to be amended. “The amendment bill will be tabled in the next three months,” he said. “It will be amended in such a fashion that it can neither be misused by officers nor fail to protect public servants. We will discuss the issue at length when the bill is tabled.”

Nandgaon MLA Suhas Kande (Shiv Sena) raised the issue through a calling attention motion, claiming that a police inspector in his constituency lodged fake cases against him. He added that even the local court took cognisance of the fake cases and ordered the inspector to be booked under Sections 385, 384, 389 of the IPC and Section 7 and 13 of the Anti-Corruption Act. Nashik West MLA Devyani Farande (BJP) too alleged that the same officer had booked her and other women on false charges. Ramtek MLA Ashish Jaiswal (independent) said that another police officer had threatened to book him under Section 353 A.

Fadnavis announced that an inquiry would be conducted against the Nashik police officer by an officer of the rank of joint commissioner. “The inquiry will be completed in a month and till then the officer will be sent on mandatory leave,” he said.

Guhagar MLA Bhaskar Jadhav (Shiv Sena) said that the issue had been taken up in the state legislature earlier. “We had discussed this in a meeting with the then home minister Dilip Walse Patil,” he said. “The amendment was unanimously accepted then, and it should now be amended at the earliest.”

G D Kulthe, chief advisor of the Maharashtra State Gazetted Officers Federation said, “The section was introduced after our fight to ensure protection for public servants. There could be a one-off case of misuse, but it does not mean that it should be completely dropped. We will not allow the law to be amended, and the government should not compel us to protest against the move.”