New Delhi: Reprieve for de-notified and nomadic tribes may be in the offing. The government today informed the Parliament that the Habitual Offenders Act, 1952 may be repealed soon. The decision would be taken as soon as the final report by the National Commission for Denotified Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (NCDNT) is tabled in the next two days.
Rajya Sabha member and Senior advocate KTS Tulsi questioned the government today that "whether they were thinking of repealing the Habitual Offenders Act?"
Responding to the question, Krishna Pal, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment said that the interim report by the Commission had suggested to repeal the Habitual Offenders Act and that its final report is expected in the next two days.
"This is a very old law. We are sure that NCDNT will keep its suggestion intact on repealing the said legislation. Even the government favours such a move. We are waiting for the report of the commission," said Minister Pal.
This Act classifies certain tribes as hereditary criminals, depriving them of affirmative actions by the State. The groups have been oppressed and have never been granted fundamental rights.
After the 1857 revolt and sepoy mutiny, many castes and tribes were given the criminal-by-birth tag under the ambit of the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871.
Post-independence, the Indian government replaced this Act with the Habitual Offenders Act, 1952. But there were continuous reports that instead of uplifting the lives of these tribes, the legislation only re-stigmatised the deprived and marginalised tribes.
As of now, there are several variants of ‘criminal’ tribes such as the Pardhis, Kanjars, Ramoshis, and Vanjaris continue to remain aloof from the reach of affirmative State action.
Civil rights groups claim that the members of such groups have no fundamental right to justice, equality, and freedom. It is alleged that these members are subjected to head counts and often are arrested by the police when real criminals are not to be found.
NCDNT was constituted by the government to specify the economic interventions required for raising their living standards through asset creation and self-employment opportunities.
Even the National Human Rights Commission has recommended the repeal of the Habitual Offenders Act, 1952.
In March 2007, the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination had also asked for the same.
“The so-called de-notified and nomadic people listed for their alleged ‘criminal tendencies’ under the former Criminal Tribes Act (1871), continue to be stigmatised under the Habitual Offenders Act," read the UN Committee report.
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