PIL questions immediate arrests in dowry harassment cases

JAIPUR: A division bench of the high court has asked state government to give its reply to a PIL filed by one Vinod Singhal who questioned immediate arrests in cases pertaining to Section 498A (dowry harassment) and Section 406 of IPC (criminal breach of trust) filed by aggrieved wives against husband and his relatives.
The petition alleges that 70% matrimonial disputes are being converted into criminal cases by misuse of the provisions of Sections 498A and 406 of IPC. It has been alleged that once such a false criminal case is filed against the husband and his relatives the police immediately arrest the accused resulting in vanishing of chances of reconciliation between the warring husband and wife.
The PIL raises a point that since the offences are non-bailable, some guidelines must be issued so as to see that no husband or his relatives are arrested on false complaints. The petitioner demands that instead of registering the FIR immediately, the police must first call the parties for conciliation and in case the dispute remains unresolved, then only action should be initiated against the guilty husband and his relatives.
It has also been highlighted in the petition that in the recent past the Supreme Court too had observed that the law made for protection of women is being misused and has asked the Law Commission of India to report as to whether the law can be made bailable. The division bench of Chief Justice Amitava Roy and Justice V S Siradhana directed that a copy of the PIL be supplied to the government advocate.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-07-09/jaipur/40468015_1_pil-questions-dowry-harassment-cases-division-bench

No anticipatory bail to Prince Tuli, Parents relieved

Nagpur News: A sessions court on Saturday rejected the anticipatory bail application of Prince Tuli but granted him protection from arrest for two weeks for approaching the Bombay High Court.
Mookhey had accused Tulli, a resident of Nagpur, of cruelty, criminal breach of trust, and unnatural sex in a complaint filed with Amboli Police on July 3. Tuli’s parents and sister were also booked.
The court, however, granted anticipatory bail to Tuli’s parents and sister, after their lawyer managed to prove that they had cooperated with the investigation.
The court transferred the investigation to the Bandra Police, after Mookhey approached the police commissioner alleging the investigating officer from Amboli Police Station was favouring the accused, as his family home was in Nagpur.
Mookhey had told the court that some videos of the couple was in Tuli’s possession, and expressed apprehension that he might make those public.
Mookhey’s counsel also referred to a second FIR that Mookhey filed against Tuli on August 18, citing a newspaper interview in which he allegedly ‘defamed’ her.

http://www.nagpurtoday.in/no-anticipatory-bail-to-prince-tuli-parents-relieved/ 

UP accounts for over 80% of illegal arrests in India

UP accounts for over 80% of illegal arrests in India

NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh's high-handedness is not just reflected in the arbitrary transfer of officers such as Durga Sakthi Nagpal and slapping of bogus cases against dissenters (as in the case of Dalit scholar Kanwal Bharti), it can also be seen in the massive number of illegal arrests made by the UP police.

According to National Human Rights Commission data, UP records an overwhelming majority of illegal arrests in the country, accounting for more than 80% of all such cases. In fact, it tips its nearest competitor, Delhi, by over 3,000% almost year after year.

In the past three years (April 2010 to July 2013), UP accounted for 3,397 illegal arrests out of 3,950 such cases recorded across India by NHRC. The count for the rest of the 27 states and seven union territories put together was just 553.

"What do you expect from a state where many politicians themselves are criminals? How do you expect them to have any respect for law and order or human rights?" says Colin Gonsalves of Human Rights Law Network.

From April 2012 to March 2013, NHRC recorded 703 cases of illegal arrests in all. As many as 589 of these were against the UP police. UP accounts for 161 of 192 illegal arrests in '13

Its closest rivals in this dubious distinction, Uttarakhand and Delhi, were way behind with 14 cases each. Data for this period shows only two other states where the number of illegal arrests had crossed double figures — Karnataka (12) and Andhra Pradesh (10).

In 2013 too (April 1 to July 20), UP accounted for 161 such cases of the total of 192 recorded by NHRC in the entire country. Its closest rival, Delhi, was again was behind with only five cases.

Year 2011 was the worse for UP, with the state police being at the wrong end of the law 1,101 times of the total of 1,249 cases registered by NHRC. Delhi again took the second spot with 38 cases. In 2010 too UP recorded 1,546 such cases of the total of 1,716. These are cases that were brought to NHRC's notice. The real figures for both UP and other states are bound to be higher as many complainants go to state human rights commissions instead of knocking at NHRC's doors.

Conversely, sources say, UP being closer to Delhi, more people may tend to approach NHRC in the capital. But if that was true, neighbouring Haryana would also show a high number of illegal arrests. However,Haryana's figures for many years have remained in single digits.  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/UP-accounts-for-over-80-of-illegal-arrests-in-India/articleshow/21853340.cms