“Criminality Or Criminal Tendencies Have Nothing To Do With Religion, Caste Or Creed Of Any Human Being” - Justice Abhay S. Oka

The Criminal Justice and Police Accountability Project (CPA Project), in association with LiveLaw, organized the 'Annual Vimukta Divas' lecture titled “Indian Constitution & Denotified Tribes” on 22nd September 2024. The keynote address was delivered by Justice Abhay S. Oka, Judge of the Supreme Court, to commemorate the 72nd year of repealing the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871. Vimukta Diwas is celebrated on 31st August every year to commemorate the repeal of the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 and denotification of the communities—'Vimukta' meaning liberation from the shadow of the Criminal Tribes Act.The Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 was enacted by the British colonial administration, stands as one of the most oppressive laws of its time. It branded several nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes along with other oppressed caste communities as “hereditary criminals addicted to the systematic commission of non-bailable offences”. The law empowered the police with extensive powers of surveillance, compulsory registration, and resettlement. The Criminal Tribes Act Enquiry Committee that formed in 1949 advised repealing the Act as the law was incompatible with the principles of equality and freedom that underpin independent India. The draconian colonial enactment was repealed on 31 August 1952 and is celebrated by Denotified Tribal (Vimukta) communities as the day of their independence. Despite the repeal of the CTA, the stigma of criminality follows Vimukta communities to this day. After the CTA was repealed, the practices of surveillance were quickly reinstated through habitual offenders provisions in state level police regulations and enactments. They remain in effect in most states even as of now. Glimpse of past and present:Justice Oka, addressing the lecture, expressed his deep concerns over the pernicious legacy of Criminal Tribes Act that continues to cast a long shadow, impeding the progress and hindering of Vimukta communities their socio-economic development, despite its repeal in 1952. The unabated continuation of stigma, discrimination and violence towards the denotified tribal communities is antagonistic and antithetical to the principle of equality, liberty and fraternity that are cordial to the Constitution of India. Justice Oka underscored the orientalist biases in the making of hereditary criminals and enactment of the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, and called it one of the most oppressive enactments of the British era. “These laws enabled the state to declare a large number of individuals belonging to a declared criminal tribe as criminals without any trial. These laws prevented these individuals from leading any kind of a dignified life instead they were kept under constant surveillance which prevented them from leading day to day normal life…..Thus by law the stamp of being criminal was put on millions without any basis.” Justice Okaexplicating the lingering effects of the colonial law on the society at large and the criminal justice system in contemporary times, noted that ”75 years after coming into force of the constitution of India the stigma attached to the communities which were branded as criminal tribes under the 1871, 1911 and 1924 Acts have not completely disappeared. This is a huge challenge faced by our society and the justice delivery system. The mindset of some of the citizens has not changed. More importantly, the mindset of the law enforcing machinery, namely the police has not changed.” Justice Oka further highlighting the widespread impact of their historical criminalization and ongoing socio-economic challenges "It is said that more than 120 million persons have been included in the denotified tribes.” Deep-rooted prejudices against denotified communities:Justice Oka reflected on his personal experience to enunciate the prejudices against the denotified tribal communities that are inherent in the criminal justice system. The judge shared from his rich experience that “I have occasioned to see the copies of FIRs, especially relating to offences of robberies, I found that the community of the accused is mentioned, indirectly suggesting that the accused belongs to a community which is desribed as a criminal tribe.” Despite the data generated by the courts that dispel the prejudice of co-relation between caste, religion, or community and criminality, the attribution of criminality to denotified communities by the police, criminal justice system and society at large is disheartening. “The functioning of the courts at various levels in Independent India has generated a huge amount of data….. From my experience what I learnt is that criminality or criminal tendecies have nothing to do with religion, caste or creed of any human being. Proper analysis of data regarding convictions in our country will definitely prove the hypothesis I just discussed. The hypothesis which I repeat - Criminality or criminal tendencies have nothing to do with religion, caste or creed of any human being.” Justice Oka...

“Criminality Or Criminal Tendencies Have Nothing To Do With Religion, Caste Or Creed Of Any Human Being” - Justice Abhay S. Oka

Anvesh Baki & Maheshwari Mawase

Tags