Concerned over the State’s deteriorating law and order situation besides increasing criminal gangs activities in Punjab, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh wanted to put in place a stringent law - Punjab Control of Organised Crime Act (PCOCA). The anti-criminal law is expected to be announced by this month.
Capt Amarinder, to crackdown on the menace of organised crime and gangsters in the state, has directed the Cabinet Sub-Committee, headed by Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, to expedite drafting of the legislation on PCOCA.
The directive was issued by the Chief Minister during Thursday’s law and order review meeting, an official spokesperson said, adding that the PCOCA legislation might be brought in later this month.
The orders came after State police chief Suresh Arora raised the issue of giving more teeth to the police to tackle organised crime and gangsters in the State.
Director General of Police (DGP) Arora said the police needed to be empowered to effectively deal with criminals, for which a legislation such as PCOCA is needed on an urgent basis.
Agreeing, Chief Minister said it was important to instil fear among criminals. The proposed legislation would ensure that the police were not obstructed in dealing with them with an iron hand, he said.
Though the proposed law would give wide powers to the police to take action against criminals in the state, it would have sufficient checks and balances to prevent any misuse, the spokesperson said.
The State Government would ensure there is no arbitrary application of PCOCA or human rights violation is committed in the name of law, the spokesperson quoted the Chief Minister as saying.
Soon after assuming office, the Congress Government had revived the proposal to introduce PCOCA in view of a large number of organised gangs operating in the State and a spate of recent incidents of jailbreaks and violent clashes in prisons.
The previous Akali-BJP Government had also proposed PCOCA, but some of its ministers had apprehended that it could be misused for political vendetta.
The proposed legislation is aimed at empowering police officers of DIG rank or above to invoke PCOCA with a detailed note on reasons for Indian Penal Code (IPC) not being sufficient to deal with the said act of crime.
At the same time, it has been proposed that the new law should be tight enough to prevent any arbitrary action under its provisions. The legislation would also have enough internal controls to secure witnesses and ensure fool-proof in-camera court proceedings, said the spokesperson.