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Friday, Jun 04, 2004

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Police officials against repeal of MCOCA

By Our Correspondent

MUMBAI, JUNE 3. The proposed withdrawal of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, (MCOCA) will adversely affect the regulation of organised crime, say police officials in the city. They claim that there has been a high conviction rate and a reduction in extortion cases since the Act came into force.

The fate of the law, promulgated on February 24, 1999, is uncertain after the Maharashtra Home Minister R. R. Patil's statement last week that the State Government was reviewing MCOCA. Under MCOCA, stringent punishment is awarded to a person or gangs operating as a syndicate. Any offence that results in a person's death is punished with a life-term or a death penalty and a minimum fine of Rs. one lakh.

"Laws like MCOCA are the need of the hour," said Satya Pal Singh, Joint Commissioner, Crime, Mumbai Police. "In 1997-98, there were many shootouts, civilians were killed and inter-gang rivalry was high. There was a rise in extortion cases and businessmen were afraid to celebrate weddings or even buy new cars," he said.

Between 1999-2003, there wasa dramatic drop in such cases and this was due to MCOCA, Mr. Singh said. So far, 280 people have been arrested and 68 cases registered in Mumbai under the Act. Thirty cases ended in conviction while 19 were acquitted, he said. The conviction rate was about 60 per cent compared to six or seven per cent in criminal cases in the rest of the country. Shootouts came down from 93 cases in 1998 when 101 people were killed and 15 injured to 41 cases in 1999 and 10 incidents in 2003. Cases of extortion came down from 367 cases in 1998 and 344 cases in 1999 to 142 cases in 2003, Mr. Singh added.

"There is no reason to remove MCOCA. It has been sparingly used and there is little allegation of misuse," said Rohini Salian, the Public Prosecutor for Greater Mumbai. "Despite the Indian Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, organised crime was not under control," Ms. Salian said. Many policemen, including former City Police Commissioner R. S. Sharma, Inspector General of Police, Shridar Vagal, and Deputy Commissioner of Police, Pradeep Sawant,were arrested under the Act for their alleged links with organised crime. Last year, a municipal official was arrested for abetting Dawood Ibrahim's gang to build an illegal shopping complex.

Some notable acquittals under the Act include that of film financier Bharat Shah on October 1, 2003. He was charged with abetting underworld activities. During the Shah trial, the Bombay High Court struck down Sections 13-16 under MCOCA that pertained to authorisation to tap oral or electronic communication. The State has challenged this in the Supreme Court, said Ms. Salian.

In 2002, the city police were pulled up when theAdditional Sessions Judge, J.W. Singh was acquitted of extortion and alleged links with the underworld.

The judgment in Mr. Singh's case was that the authorisation by the Home Department to intercept telephone calls between Mr. Singh and gangster Chhota Shakeel had not been placed before a review committee as mandated under the Act.

However, city lawyers who are campaigning against MCOCA are not sure what the Government rethink on the Act entails. Mihir Desai, human rights activist and lawyer, said, "If it was effective in dealing with organised crime, why are there still so many encounter deaths? This law is used to keep people behind bars without trial. We may be happy certain people are arrested but overall it's a draconian law."

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