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Opinion

Gross misuse

There is a need to ensure transparency in the implementation of laws, and to introduce stringent provisions against false complainants, to prevent innocents

Gross misuse
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Efficient implementation of law is a pre-requisite for a stable and peaceful society, and democracy is the torchbearer for vibrant people-centric governance. The democratic fabric of a nation complements the jurisprudence in ensuring lawful governance. Over the years, judicial activism — through Public Interest Litigations (PILs) — has ensured that the derailment of rule of law is prevented and the socially vulnerable sections of the society have benefited immensely. The PIL concept was introduced by Justice PN Bhagwati to secure public interest and create an opportunity for justice for socially disadvantaged groups by providing relaxation on the traditional rule of locus standi. Ever since its enunciation in the 1980s, the judiciary has used it for course-correction of executive's functions and, through several landmark judgements, has provided relief to affected citizens.

However, a serious problem of misuse of law has been cropping up lately in the country, threatening jurisprudence. This writer has been a witness to several instances of misuse of law — both by the common citizens as well as people in power. He has recently written a book 'Quest for Civility — an insight into Indian Babudom' on misuse of power by people in authority. The subversion of rule of law, if not checked, is going to explode in some way or the other. The trigger for this article came from a newspaper report about challenging the appointment of Rakesh Asthana as the Delhi Police Commissioner, under a PIL filed by a few non-government organizations. Asthana has challenged it as a misuse of the law. Now, let us discuss how his appointment was made and under what rule. The All-India Services officers — IAS, IPS and IFS — are recruited by the Central Government, and it is up to the sweet will of the government to utilize them anywhere in the country or abroad in the public interest. They can be granted extension in service or transferred from one cadre to another, depending upon their service records and the opinion of the government. It is akin to the way the Supreme Court Collegium transfers High Court judges from the High Court of one state to the other. Such actions of the Central Government in utilizing its officers are absolutely within its power and cannot be challenged. There may be several reasons for the appointment by the government as well as several reasons of dissatisfaction for the officers who were affected by the appointment and, if affected officers had gone to the Central Administrative Tribunal, it would have been justified and the case would have been decided on merit. But how could an unaffected party challenge the power of government? If the country allows such wastage of time on things purely based on ulterior motives, or at the instigation of political leaders, it would put the entire country's administration as well as security to peril.

There are many other instances of misuse of power that need the attention of the Supreme Court, High Courts and lower courts as well as legislatures. Crimes against women are attracting the attention of the judiciary with stringent provisions but surveys have shown that most of the provisions of section 354 of IPC and the Dowry Prevention Law (Section 498A / 406 of IPC) are routinely misused India and yet no modifications seem to have been made in these over the years. The provision, that was enacted to protect the dignity of women, has become a widely misused weapon by them to harass and blackmail their husbands and their family. Once an FIR is filed under 498A/406 (IPC) it becomes a tool in the hands of the police to harass the husband and all his relatives named in the FIR without an intrinsic or preliminary investigation. According to a survey conducted by Fight against Misuse of Dowry Law, 98 per cent of the cases filed under section 498A are false. One senior officer of Ladakh administration is facing a dowry case and his 71-year-old father — a retired senior officer — is running from pillar to post. Similarly, section 354 is massively used to harass men deliberately to settle property and other disputes. More than half of such cases ultimately prove false and no real punitive action is taken against the complainant. This writer knows one such case in Delhi's Gagan Vihar area in which one builder — in connivance with a police constable — has put a scheming family of dubious character with an in-house advocate in a flat which exchanged hands without proper payment of stamp duty at two levels, to grab the property of an 84-year-old army veteran. As soon as the family came to live, the quarrelling started as they refused to pay the maintenance charges and a report to the police did not help much. In order to corner the old man, the daughter of the new flat owner started filing a false case of pushing her around. A similar case of misuse of law was witnessed in a case of gifting a property. A false case of gift was prepared by the sister-in-law of a woman to dispose of her from the property of her parents. The case has been going on for the past two years in Saket court in Delhi. The Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Atrocities Act is another frequently misused Act in the country. In a study in Rajasthan, more than 40 per cent of cases were proved false, and the situation is the same elsewhere.

The country needs to bring transparency in the implementation of law. There is a need to bring in a law to make stringent provisions against misuse of law and, if once a case is not proved, the complainant as well as others involved in the investigation, and false witnesses must be punished as per the provisions of the relevant law without any need to file damage suits. Only then the country's judiciary as well as police and other agencies would be spared of such wastage of time. The new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has been concerned about reforms in the judiciary and it is hoped he will take note of this suggestion of the author. After all, let not a single innocent person be tortured on false grounds and a system that ensures this is the hallmark of a sound judiciary.

The writer is Chairman of the Centre for Resource Management and Environment. Views expressed are personal.

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