Follow Karnataka law to curb organised crime, HC tells TN government

The Madras High Court has asked the state government to explain the scope of coming out with a new act like the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA), 1999, or the Karnataka Control of Organised Crimes Act, (KCOCA) 2000, which would enable the Tamil Nadu police to deal with organised criminals and paid killers effectively.

A division bench comprising Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice S Baskaran raised this aspect on Wednesday while dealing with a plea challenging the detention of a person under Goondas Act for his alleged involvement in a gang fight resulting in the death of a person.

Observing that the case on hand would demonstrate as to how the criminal gangs and paid killers were active in Tamil Nadu, jeopardising law and order and creating panic in the minds of the common man in the State and other parts of the country, the bench sought answers from the State on a slew of questions. This included the steps taken by the government to prevent youth from joining these gangs, as many juveniles and minors themselves form part of the gangs.

Impleading the Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu Government and Union Ministry of Home Affairs suo motu, the bench directed the State to explain as to why it should not form a special wing of police headed by an officer in the rank of DGP to contain organised criminals, paid killers, history-sheeters and gangsters by providing special training to the recruits to deal with them and to investigate such cases effectively.

The other queries raised included the number of active criminal gangs in Tamil Nadu, the number of murders committed by these gangs in the past decade, the cases registered against them, the rate of conviction, whether witnesses are dissuaded from deposing by winning them over either by coercion or threat, and the kind of people who engage such gangs.

Further, the bench led by Justice Kirubakaran wanted to know whether it was a fact that many political parties appointed persons with muscle power and criminal background as office bearers at every level, wondering about the political parties that have persons with criminal background as office bearers. It also asked whether real estate sharks were engaging criminal gangs to either grab or encroach the properties of innocent people.

Also, seeking to know as to whether centralised criminal database has been created regarding gangsters in Tamil Nadu and India, the bench wanted to know whether such criminals floated political outfits so as to escape from both the police and clutches of law, and also whether gangsters were purchasing law degrees from law colleges in other States to shield their criminal acts and to avoid police action.

The plea has been posted to November 30 for the State and Centre to file their responses.