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| India-Pakistan |
| Different laws for trial of IM-SIMI modules |
| 2008-10-08 |
| The prosecution and trial of Indian Mujahideen-SIMI members for serials blasts across the country may see an anomaly: while modules hauled in by Mumbai Police will be proceeded against under the tough MCOCA, police in Delhi, Rajasthan and Gujarat may not have recourse to special laws. The Maharashtra government's decision to use the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) is aimed at faster trials while increasing the prospects of conviction of the accused. This is because special MCOCA courts -- like those provided for under TADA and POTA -- can be expected to deal with the cases expeditiously. While TADA courts had a mixed record -- some cases have carried on for years -- delays are also because of the complex nature of crimes as in the 1993 Mumbai bombings. But these courts have handed out convictions, as in the 1993 blasts itself and other cases like the Rajiv Gandhi assassination. TADA was an anti-terror law introduced after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi; it was also subjected to misuse. The Gujarat government under Congress's Chimanbhai Patel in 1990-92 arrested thousands of farmers belonging to a BJP-affiliated union under TADA. Later, with successive court rulings, special laws were upheld, reformed and fine-tuned. MCOCA was born after NDA convened a joint session of Parliament to pass POTA and like the central law -- repealed by UPA -- the Maharashtra law has certain provisions that give bite to anti-terrorism measures. Brought in by the Congress-NCP government, it has provisions for admitting wire taps and confessions before a senior police officer (to be repeated to a magistrate) as evidence, tougher bail conditions and stringent sentences for crimes that result in deaths. As things stand, Delhi can use MCOCA as it is a Union territory and its police system is under the Union home ministry, but so far those arrested for the September 13 blasts have not been charged under this law. This could make, said official sources, the task of Delhi Police more complex apart from underscoring the dichotomy of linked modules being prosecuted under very different sets of laws. Offical sources said taht while special laws had become politically contentious as they had been attacked for being "misused", particularly against minorities, they did make a difference. Special laws were a statement of the government's political will and stiff sentences acted as deterrents, underlining that terrorism was a high-risk enterprise. While concerns over special laws and individual rights were valid, the larger question was whether special laws were required to tackle terrorism, given its national and international spread. In the case of IM-SIMI, despite the close coordination between the police forces of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Delhi and UP, the Jaipur, Delhi, Ahmedabad and UP court blast cases will be tried under varying laws. Some of POTA's provisions like admissibility of wire taps have been included in the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), but officials point out that establishing the conspiracy angle was not easy, particularly in the case of tech-savvy terrorists. When plans were made and discussed in code in internet chat rooms, through SMSs and in great secrecy, confessions were a valuable tool for investigators. The political faultlines are also likely to sharpen as Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has already launched a high-decibel campaign against the Congress and the UPA for keeping GUJCOCA on hold, alleging that the ruling alliance at the Centre was playing vote-bank politics. Similarly, Rajasthan's version of MCOCA remains in cold storage. |
| Posted by:Fred |