Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Highest number of detentions in Chennai

By K.T. Sangameswaran

CHENNAI, FEB. 25. No special legislation has drawn as much public attention as the popularly known "Goondas Act" in recent days.

Considered as a powerful weapon in the police armoury to detain persons without trial, the use of the Act in some cases has invited strong criticism from rights activists. Originally conceived to combat bootleggers, its scope was widened last year to tackle video pirates, considering the loss caused by them to the film industry.

In 2003, a total of 1,053 persons were detained under the `Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug offenders, Forest Offenders, Slum Grabbers and Video Pirates Act', with 534 persons being sent to jail in Chennai on the Police Commissioner's orders. In 2002, of 1,733 detentions, 1,093 were in the city.

The legislation was enacted in 1982 to check anti-social elements, illicit distillers and sellers, gang members, manufacturers and sellers of illicit drugs and those indulging in forest offences. The reason was that the activities of anti-social elements created a sense of insecurity, affecting public order. The thrust was on containing bootlegging as sale of cheap and illicitly distilled brew often caused deaths and distillers and sellers made quick money.

"It is effective in detaining persons whose activities need to be curtailed at least for a year," says an Additional Director-General of Police. The possibility of being detained under the Act puts fear in the minds of anti-social elements. The Act comes in handy to detain dreaded criminals, particularly those indulging in robbery and dacoity. "How else are we to contain the activities of dacoits who come from outside the State," he asks. The need for an effective legislation on the lines of the one in Maharashtra is being felt in other States too. Tamil Nadu has proposed to enact a law.

`Reform justice system'

But rights activists point out that one possible reason for detention under the Act is the delay in the criminal justice system at various stages. "The police use the Act to delay filing of the charge sheet. An individual unnecessarily detained (under the Act) cannot come out on bail. This defeats the ends of justice," says Sudha Ramalingam, national vice-president, People's Union for Civil Liberties. Expediting trial will obviate the need to detain a person under the Act as a preventive measure, she argues.

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