Dr. B. Karthik Navayan
Samata Sainik Dal (SSD), the organization founded by Babasaheb Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in 1924 with the objective of safeguarding the rights of all oppressed sections of Indian society is conducting a legal research on the closure of cases registered under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, initially in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states.
It came to the notice of the organization that in a district of Telangana, in the last 4 years, around 20 cases registered under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 have been closed by the police by filing a final report. There is an atmosphere of suspicion and doubt among the SC and ST individual victims who filed the cases and a need to examine if the closed cases. They suspect that the investigation officer who closed around 20 cases also fixed a rate for closing the cases by filing a final report. If true, this is a disturbing trend.
In our experience, we observed that, generally, when the individuals from SC and ST communities approach police with complaints against atrocities, the authorities discouraged them and getting an FIR registered itself is the biggest task, which needs multiple visits to the police station and visits to higher police officials. After FIR is registered, there will be attempts to compromise with threats or other means. If the victims still want to pursue the case in the court, the investigation officer has to stand by the victims and run the case on behalf of victims. However, in most cases, the attitude of investigation officers is discouraging the victims and in some cases, the investigation officers colluding with the accused and closing the cases for monitory gains and some other benefits.
It is in this kind of situation, Samata Sainik Dal initiated legal research to document the procedures followed by the investigation officers while closing the cases and the causes and consequences arising after the closure of cases under SC and ST (POA). This legal research also aimed to analyze the individual cases, trends and see the possibilities to reopen the genuine cases closed by filing final reports.
Samata Sainik Dal already filed a protest petition and reopened one such case where the investigation officer closed the case by filing a final/false report with legally untenable reasons and the case is now running against the accused. In this context, Samatha Sainik Dal inviting the victims, their relatives and others interested to be part of this legal research against the atrocities, please contact us and provide the details along all with the relevant documents. We are also filing Applications under RTI act to get the documents from the police authorities. Those who have such information and documents can send it to us:
Dr. B. Karthik Navayan
B.Com, LL.M, M.Phil, PhD
Advocate and Legal Adviser, Samatha Sainik Dal
Ho. No. 3- 6- 260/1, First Floor,
Himayath Nagar, Hyderabad,
Telangana – 500029
Mobile: 09346677007,
Email – navayan@gmail.com
