Date:14/01/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/01/14/stories/2005011405870400.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Summons served on DGP, Chief Secretary

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, JAN. 13. The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has served summons on the Director-General of Police and the Chief Secretary of the State to appear before it at Delhi on January 19. This action follows their failure to reply to clarifications sought by it regarding some instructions by a former Superintendent of Police of Nellore.

The commission had been sending queries to the State Government for over an year since the SP, K.V. Rajendranath Reddy, had in a radio message to the subordinate officers asked that no case under Protection of Atrocities Act for SCs be booked without his permission. But, there was no response from the Government, the commission member, V. Devender, told reporters here on Thursday.

Cases on SCs reviewed

Mr. Devender said the commission sought a clarification since it interpreted the instructions to mean that the SP enjoyed jurisdictional powers to book cases of atrocities against SCs. In that case, the commission feared the SP could be biased in ordering that no cases of atrocities against SCs be booked.

Earlier, Mr. Devender reviewed issues concerning SCs with P. Sundar Kumar, the Social Welfare Commissioner, Ch. Koteswara Rao, Inspector General of Police (Protection of Civil Rights & Protection of Atrocities Act) and Narayana Rao, Director of Prosecutions.

He enquired from Mr. Sundar Kumar the utilisation of Central funds for implementation of the legislation on atrocities against SCs. He advised him to disburse the money to the district SPs to improve the conviction rate.

Mr. Koteswara Rao was asked to take steps to supply handbook on the legislations to all police stations while Mr. Narayana Rao was directed to hold a workshop on the legislation for public prosecutors, additional prosecutors and Government pleaders.

Mr. Devender made known his displeasure at the poor conviction rate of 4.3 per cent in the atrocities cases. He was told that the judicial process took a long time because the cases had to be investigated by officers of the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police but they were generally busy all the time.