Thiruvananthapuram: The press statement issued by the Kerala Chief Minister's Office denying the existence of any file pertaining to a draft bill on the prevention of organised crime has been found to be untrue.
The chief minister's office declared that the file does not exist when it's there actually, though in the electronic format. The screen shot of the e-file clearly indicates that both the additional chief secretary and the joint secretary of the Home Department had examined the file on the draft bill September 3.
The e-file file bears the name, home-M2/149/2021-home. It was found opened at 12.33 pm on June 2021. It contains proposals related to the Kerala Organised Crime Control Act being conceived.
Before and after their perusal, the file was also examined at the office of the Law Department and the Chief Secretary, according to higher-ups in the State administration.
Malayala Manorama had reported the other day that the law department had returned the draft bill prepared by the police on the lines of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) which seeks to put accused in preventive custody for 180 days without trial. The file was returned with the query: are organised crimes on the lines of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra happening in Kerala? Is there a need for such a law in Kerala?
Subsequently, a four-member committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary was constituted by the government to examine the draft.
What the CMO stated
The Chief Minister's Office came out with the press statement following the criticism of the draft law. The statement admits that there have been suggestions from various quarters for framing a law to check organised crime and a committee has been constituted to examine the issue. In the same statement, the CMO categorically stated that no file related to the matter existed.
As per the Manorama report, the draft law was first submitted to the government last year when Lokanath Behera was the State Police Chief. The draft bill sought to give unbridled powers to the police on the lines of Maharashtra law. However, the government did not take that proposal seriously. One month before his retirement, Behera handed over the same draft to the Home Department. Subsequently, the government decided to examine it and forwarded the draft to the law department.
Likely provisions
The draft bill contains recommendations such as the confessional statement given by the accused before police can be accepted as evidence, preventive custody for 180 days without trial, powers to recover and attach the property of the accused during the course of investigation and powers to tap phones without any prior permission.
Earlier, the government was forced to rollback an ordinance which sought to curtail freedom of speech. At that time too the intentions of the police were suspect.
Excerpts of the statement issued by CMO
The news related to this issue is baseless. There have been demands from various quarters for bringing a law to curb organised crime. A committee has been constituted to examine these proposals. The committee comprising chief secretary, additional chief secretary home, law secretary and former additional advocate general K K Raveendranath is examining the proposals.
No file exists at the government level at this stage. There will be no interference of any kind from the government's side over the civil rights granted by the Indian Constitution to the citizen. No such proposal will be accepted.
The first meeting of the panel deferred
The first meeting of the committee headed by the chief secretary to examine the draft bill has been deferred. Chief Secretary V P Joy said the meeting was deferred as the home secretary had to take part in another conference. The fresh dates for holding the meeting have not been decided yet.
The members were earlier informed that the committee meeting would be held at 10 am on September 10 at the chief secretary's office.
No file exists at the government level at this stage. There will be no interference of any kind from the government's side over the civil rights granted by the Indian Constitution to the citizen. No such proposal will be accepted.
The first meeting of the panel deferred
The first meeting of the committee headed by the chief secretary to examine the draft bill has been deferred. Chief Secretary V P Joy said the meeting was deferred as the home secretary had to take part in another conference. The fresh dates for holding the meeting have not been decided yet.
The members were earlier informed that the committee meeting would be held at 10 am on September 10 at the chief secretary's office.
