• Assam Police enforce strict measures amid anti-CAA protests in the state

    Regional
    Assam Police enforce strict measures amid anti-CAA protests in the state
    If demonstrations against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act's (CAA) implementation start, these will be put into effect.......


    Digital desk: The director general of police in Assam released strict guidelines in preparation for possible disruptions to law and order in the state on Monday. If demonstrations against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act's (CAA) implementation start, these will be put into effect. The instruction comes after the opposition parties mobilized the state's demonstrators against the CAA in response to the Center's notification of the regulations governing the CAA's implementation today. 

    The Assam Police has listed probable outcomes for the next few days along with the necessary steps that need to be done. Since rail and road blockades are only variations on the bandh, they are both unlawful and unconstitutional. 

    If an organization calls for and enforces an Assam bandh, a state-wide road blockade, or a rail blockade, first information must be filed with the Panbazar Police Station within 24 hours of the bandh or blockade. Then, within three to seven days of the first information being filed, the Commissioner of Police, Guwahati city, or any subordinate officer he may designate, must provide written information to the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, Home, and Political Department.

    When there is a district, local, or similar type of bandh or blockade on a road or rail, the Superintendent of Police in charge of the affected area must file an initial report with the appropriate police station within 24 hours of the bandh or blockade. The Superintendent of Police will then notify the Commissioner and Secretary of the Assamese government's Home and Political Department about the filing of the initial report, along with the case details, within three to seven days of the initial report being filed.

    In order to provide for a fast-track trial for the perpetrators, investigating officers in all such situations must complete their investigations quickly and submit charge sheets to the appropriate criminal court. In accordance with the aforementioned instructions 2, 3, and 4, the Assam Police Accountability Commission would oversee the registration of cases and the filing of initial information. The Assam Police Accountability Commission may take necessary legal action in the event of any default or lack of sincerity in adhering to the following directives.

    Furthermore, every three months, the Assam Police Accountability Commission is required to submit a monitoring report to the Registrar (Judicial) of the Gauhati High Court in Guwahati. 

    Within seven days of receiving information in accordance with directions 2 and 3 above, the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam in the Home and Political Department shall file a contempt petition before this Court against the organizers and principal office bearers of such organizations calling for bandhs and blockades, providing details of criminal cases filed against the organizers. If there be any deviation from the aforementioned directives 2, 3, 4, and 6, the relevant authority will consider it a dereliction of duty and may take departmental action in addition to potentially facing contempt of court.

    The Gauhati High Court's Registrar (Judicial) in Guwahati is responsible for keeping a file of the monitoring reports that the Assam Police Accountability Commission submits. Upon receiving each report, he will check to see if, in accordance with directive 6 above, a related contempt petition has been filed, should the need have arisen. In the event that no such petition for contempt has been submitted, he will file a case for contempt against the organizers and any other parties involved, including the Commissioner and Secretary to the Assamese government in the Home and Political Department, for their failure to follow directive 6.

    The Assamese government's Home and Political Department will assess the losses incurred by the state as a result of the blockade or bandh, whether they are local, district, or state-wide. These losses will be recouped from the main office bearers and organizers of the blockade or bandh as unpaid land revenue arrears. 

    Within three (three) months, the Assamese government's Home and Political Department will establish a Bandh Loss Compensation Fund. This fund will be overseen by a committee led by a retired District and Sessions Judge and may include a retired or active Administrative Officer. The authority may enlist the aid of a valuer or assessor in the process of reviewing or evaluating a claim for compensation. 

    The Assamese government would deposit the amount of loss recovered under instruction No. 9 into the Bandh Loss Compensation Fund through the Home and Political Department. The Bandh Loss Compensation Fund's authorities will determine any claims for compensation for property or person losses resulting from the blockade and bandh by developing its own process, which should guarantee a prompt resolution of such claims. Private citizens, public and private entities, legal professionals, etc., may file claims. 

    The petitioner's claim will be brought before the Bandh Loss Compensation Fund as soon as it is established, and the fund's authority will then rule on it in compliance with the law.