In the review meeting of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act cases convened by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, it came to light that 67,163 cases were registered under this law in the state in the last 10 years. The maximum number of 7,574 cases were registered in 2020, while the number was 7,125 in 2018 and 6,826 in 2017.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. (Photo: PTI)
Patna: In the last 10 years, 67,163 cases were registered in Bihar under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989.
According to the Indian Express report, the review meeting of SC-ST Act cases convened by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has revealed that even if 39,730 pending cases are added, the total number of cases will go up to 1,06,893. Of these, 44,986 cases are still pending.
In the last 10 years, courts have delivered judgments in only 872 such cases.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed concern about the slow disposal of cases and poor conviction rate in these cases after this meeting held on 23 December for the first time since 4 September 2020.
As per the rules, such meetings should be held every six months. The Chief Minister has demanded speedy hearing in the cases registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act.
Bihar Police data shows that the maximum number of 7,574 cases were registered under this Act in 2020 as compared to 7,125 in 2018 and 6,826 in 2017.
Of the 44,150 cases registered between January 2011 and November 2021, judgments were delivered in only 872 cases.
Not only because of the high number of pending cases, but the state government does not show haste in giving compensation to the victims, which is a matter of concern.
In case of murder, the victims families get a compensation of Rs 8.5 lakh. Out of 8,108 cases of these compensation, only 2,876 cases have been disposed of while 5,232 cases are pending.
In most of the cases, the districts have cited non-availability of funds as the main reason for the delay in payment of compensation.
Additional Director General of Police (Criminal Investigation Department-Vulnerable Section) Anil Kishor Yadav said, “The Chief Minister has already stressed on speedy trial of cases. We have given instructions to each of the districts for speedy monitoring in these cases so that maximum number of convictions can be ensured.
read this also…
.
