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Odisha plans to enact Goonda Act to curb organised crimes
The Bill tentatively titled ‘Odisha Goonda and anti-social activities(prevention) Bill’ has been drafted on the lines of similar Acts passed by Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra governments that seeks curb the menace of organised crimes
Bhubaneswar The Odisha government is considering enactment of a special law to deal with a crimes ranging from land grabbing by force, drug trafficking, immoral trafficking, child and human trafficking, cybercrimes, eve-teasing, extortion, kidnapping or abduction for ransom to illegal extraction of minerals and transportation.
The Bill tentatively titled ‘Odisha Goonda and anti-social activities(prevention) Bill’ has been drafted on the lines of similar Acts passed by Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra governments that seeks curb the menace of organised crimes.
HT has perused a draft copy of the Bill that is now waiting for Cabinet nod before being tabled in the assembly.
Odisha director general of police Abhay Kumar refused to speak on the proposed law as it was still being vetted by law department. However, a senior police official, on condition of anonymity, said the proposed Act would take quite some time as the approval of central government was necessary.
Widening the definition of anti-social activities, the new Act proposes to include the offences under Indian Penal Code, Odisha Excise Act(2005), Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act(1985), Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act(1956), the Protection of Children from Sexual offences Act (2012), Protection of Cow Slaughter Act(1960) and Odisha Money Lenders Act(1939).
All offences under the new Act would be cognisable and will have to be probed by an officer not below the rank of a sub-inspector, according to the draft copy of the Bill. The omnibus Act would include offences regarding transportation of minerals that have been illegally extracted.
The new Act proposes at least seven years of jail term which may be extended to 10 years and fines upto ₹50000. There would be special courts for trial of the offences booked under the proposed Act. However, the special courts can’t start trial of the cases without the sanction of state government.
Under the Act, a district magistrate can attach the accused person’s movable and immovable properties if he believes that the same has been acquired by commission of offences under it even before the courts take cognisance of the cases.
As per the proposed Act, a “goonda” is a person who with the intention of disturbing public order or of gaining any undue financial or other advantage for himself, either individually or in a group, by violence, or threat or show of violence or intimidation or coercion.
The Act also seeks to take action against police or any public official who renders help or support in any manner to anti-socials before or after the commission offence or abstains from taking measures or intentionally avoids to carry out the direction of any court or his superior officers. Such officials would be punished with a jail term of at least 3 years which may extend upto 10 years.
Similarly, any person on behalf of the anti-social person is found in possession of movable or immovable properties which can’t be accounted for would face punishment of at least 3 years which may extend upto 7 years. The property would also be liable for attachment.
The offences under this Act would be held in camera and trial by special courts would have precedence over the trial of any other case against the accused in any other court. To protect the witnesses in such cases, their identity and address would be kept secret. Even their names would not be shown in case records or judgements.
As per National Crime Records Bureau figures, total crimes in Odisha have gone up from 81, 460 in 2016 to 1.34 lakh in 2020.
The state has a poor record when it comes to crimes against women. With 292 cases for publishing sexually explicit material, the state stood at second place in the country in 2020. It topped all the states with regard to cybercrime cases dealing with blackmailing, defamation and uploading morphed photographs of women. It also figured among top-10 states in kidnapping and abduction of women.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Bargarh MP, a lawyer himself, said simply adding one more special law would not lead to any solution and would rather add to the burden of prosecuting agencies. “Odisha police don’t have enough people to manage regular day-to-day law and order activities as well probe crimes. Secondly, the investigating skills of the existing officials is not up-to-the-mark. How would the new law solve these basic issues,” asked Pujari.
Legal experts said a special law to deal with organised crimes was a good step, but said the problem in dealing with such crimes lay with the state police. “Odisha police have a poor record when it comes to charge sheeting accused and following up on the case during trial. The existing Indian Penal Code is enough to deal with the rising crime cases. In the past, the state has enacted special Acts such as Odisha Protection of Interest of Depositors Act, but have they been able to give justice to common men?,” said senior lawyer of Orissa High Court, Pitambar Acharya.
