Pune: MCOCA accused are getting bail easily: Experts

Pune: The police invoke the MCOCA in offences such as chain snatchings and fights. Therefore, the accused do not take the Act seriously. Though the police may be patting their own back to book criminals under the dreaded law, the court is letting them off as the seriousness of their offences is not proved. As many as 801 MCOCA accused got bail in the past five years. This indicates that they do not take the law seriously.

Local goons are terrorising people by proclaiming themselves “bhai”, by damaging vehicles, by wielding ‘koytas’ in public and by extorting people. It is particularly concerning that minors are getting increasingly involved in such offences. They cannot be booked under the MCOCA. They also get bail early. Local criminal gangs take advantage of these provisions and recruit minors in their gangs. This has resulted in some serious crimes that took place in the city in the past few years.

The police take the easy way out by slapping MCOCA provisions to check crime. Headlines such as ‘50 actions under the MCOCA’, ‘100 actions’ hype such actions. The then police officials patted their own back in the past.

But the crime graph has still risen. Since the dreaded law is applied in minor offences, the police fail to prove their seriousness and the accused get bail, observed lawyers.

When is MCOCA invoked?

Action is taken under the MOCOCA, if an accused’s association with a crime syndicate is established. According to the provisions of the Act, one of the accused should have been charge-sheeted on at least two occasions in the past 10 years. Under section 21 (3) of the Act, the accused does not get anticipatory bail. A convict can get life imprisonment and a fine up to Rs 5 lakh under the MCOCA.

Adv Vijaysinh Thombre, Lawyer handling criminal cases, District and Sessions Court, said, “An accused does not get bail under the MCOCA. But if the MCOCA is not proved, bail is given in exceptional cases. If the police wrongly apply sections of the MCOCA, an accused gets bail. Organised crime, financial dealings and using money earned this way to finance the syndicate, if proved, the MCOCA is applied. However, the police invoke its provisions merely to keep an accused in prison. An MCOCA case is not proved as some basic things are not considered, which is a fact. When an MCOCA accused walks out of prison after eight years, he has no other option but to commit a crime again.”