The Hindu : National : Communal Harmony Bill to have special provisions

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Friday, Feb 11, 2005

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National

Communal Harmony Bill to have special provisions

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 10. Special procedures of investigation and trial through establishment of special courts with powers for summary trials and day-to-day hearings are being considered by the Government in the Communal Harmony Bill being drafted by the Union Home Ministry in consultation with the Ministry of Law & Justice.

The Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, announced this while inaugurating the annual conference of State Minorities Commissions organised by the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) here today. The legislation may also ``include mandatory provisions for the police to establish centres for recording of First Information Reports in the affected localities and also in the relief camps wherever set up.''

Besides, there is a proposal to include statutory provisions for relief and rehabilitation measures in the legislation that is part of the mandate the Government gave to itself in the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP). Such a law, according to Mr. Patil, ``would serve as an effective deterrent to the designs of communal groups, and remove the false sense of comfort of impunity from prosecution that they seem to enjoy.''

The Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment, Meira Kumar, said the Government had decided to confer Constitutional status on the commission as per a commitment made in the NCMP. The Bill had been introduced in the Lok Sabha in the winter session of Parliament and referred to the Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment for detailed deliberations, she said.

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