Maha Cabinet Subcommittee recommends withdrawal of 44 political, social protests-related cases
Mumbai, June 17
Maharashtra Cultural Affairs Minister and Sub-Committee Chairman Ashish Shelar has said that the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Wednesday decided to withdraw 44 cases registered during various religious, political and social agitations in Maharashtra and has recommended them to the state government.
A Cabinet Sub-Committee was constituted to review cases registered during political and social agitations in Maharashtra and recommend their withdrawal where appropriate.
At an earlier meeting, 77 cases had been recommended for withdrawal.
On Wednesday, the committee recommended the withdrawal of an additional 44 cases.
During Wednesday's meeting, 133 applications pertaining to cases registered by the police were reviewed.
The committee decided to withdraw cases against 44 applicants.
The meeting was attended by the Principal Secretary of the Law and Judiciary Department, the Director of the Directorate of Public Prosecution, officials from the Home Department and senior police officers from across the state.
The committee made it clear that offences related to crimes against women, serious criminal offences, as well as personal and civil disputes cannot be pardoned under the state government's policy; therefore, the committee refused to withdraw such cases.
In accordance with government resolutions and directions of the Supreme Court, matters relating to sitting and former MLAs and MPs can only be finally decided by the Bombay High Court.
Necessary steps are being taken in this regard as well.
Of the 133 applications received by the Cabinet Sub-Committee, 14 cases have been recommended for reconsideration and will be placed before regional committees led by Deputy Commissioners of Police.
In addition, some of the 35 cases under review had already been disposed of, while 32 cases were outside the committee's purview. Only eight cases remain pending for consideration, the statement issued by Minister Shelar's office said.
Minister Shelar said that social activists, political party workers, protesters and participants in ideological movements had often been subjected to unnecessary cases.
Ensuring their relief from such unwarranted prosecutions is the responsibility of the state government, he added.
The cases withdrawn on Wednesday included those related to Ganeshotsav, Navratrotsav, Dahi Handi celebrations, social programmes, cattle protection movements and labour agitations, among others.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Good initiative but I hope they also review cases where genuine criminals got away by claiming political affiliation. Need a balanced approach, yaar.
Maharashtra government should be careful. Some of these cases were filed for very valid reasons. Hope the sub-committee thoroughly examined each case before recommending withdrawal. 🤔
As an activist myself, I've seen how easily cases are slapped on protesters. This is a step towards decongesting courts and reducing harassment of common people. But we need a permanent mechanism, not just ad-hoc committees.
What about cases filed during the Maratha reservation protests? Those were huge and many youngsters got implicated. Hope those are also reviewed. This is a good start though. 👍
Mr. Shelar sahab, this is all well and good, but we need transparency. Which cases exactly are being withdrawn? Will the list be made public? Otherwise it's just political gimmickry, bhai.
Good decision. But I want to know - what about the farmers' protest cases? Many were arrested under false charges during the drought protests. The committee should also look into those. Common man wants justice, not just selective mercy. 🇮🇳
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