In this article, Akansha Vidyarthi discusses the Conviction rate of Rioters in India.

Introduction

In India, a number of riots have occurred since independence and the number of Incidents of riots has considerably been increased in Recent years. Some of Common form of riots that have occurred in India are Communal Riot, political riots etc.It causes a great harm to public property, creates a threat to National Security, loss of lives of people.

This Article explains that why the Cases of riots are increasing but the Conviction Rates are declining over a number of years?

Punishment for Rioting in India

In India, riots in any forms are illegal and punishable under IPC and the procedure for punishing such rioters are provided in Crpc. The definition of Rioting and Its punishment is given in IPC.

What does rioting mean under Section 146 of IPC?

Situation– where the Unlawful Assembly is formed by five or more persons and force or violence used by all of them or by any person to fulfill the common object of Unlawful Assembly, then every member of such Unlawful Assembly shall be held guilty for Rioting. Example- A & five of his friends burnt the public property in protest against the Triple Talak Bill passed by the Parliament and thereby many people died. They would be held liable for Rioting under this Section.

What is the Punishment for Rioting under Section 147 of IPC?

Any person who is found guilty of Rioting under Section 146 of IPC, then they shall be Punished with-

• Imprisonment which may extend to 2 years; or
• Fine; or
• Both.

What Section 148 of IPC says when rioting is done with a Deadly Weapon?

Situation- Where Rioting is done by any person with a deadly weapon or any object or weapon which can cause the death of a person. Example- X with five of his friends assembled together with Hockey Sticks, Knife, bats and caused unlawful force and violence against people of other community which results in the death of 100 people. They would be guilty under Section 148 of IPC.

Then such person shall be punished with-

• Imprisonment which may extend to 3 years; or
• Fine; or
• Both.

What is the Procedure of Trial of rioters under Section 233 of CrPC?

Situation- Where the persons are accused of the commission of the same offence which has been committed by them under the same transaction, then they may be tried and charged together instead of Separately. Examples– A with seven of his friends are accused of committing riots, therefore they may be charged and tried together instead of separately.

In Bhanwarilal And Ors. vs The State Of Rajasthan held that “Where a number of people have been jointly tried, the court should consider the evidence against each of the accused separately and give definite findings against the presence of each.”

In Garib Singh and others vs State of Punjab (1973), the Court held that “In case of rioting, where a number of men are accused, the magistrate should deal with the case of each of the accused separately or discuss the evidence against of each of the accused, especially when the evidence against each of the accused is by no means equally strong.”

NCRB Data on Conviction Rate of rioters in India

According to the NCRB Report, the Conviction Rate of riots have reduced over a number of years and in the Year 2016, there are least number of Convictions on riots as compared to previous years.

Year	Conviction Rate of riots
2001	27.1
2002	28.6
2003	23.2
2004	22
2005	21.6
2006	21.2
2007	19.1
2008	20.2
2009	20.3
2010	21.7
2011	21.5
2012	18.5
2013	18.9
2014	18.4
2015	18.5
2016	18.1

Is Lack of Judicial Activism responsible for Low Conviction Rates in India?

The Indian Judiciary plays a very important role in eradicating the crimes, but in cases of riots, there is a need for Judicial activism in India. As due to the Casual attitude of judiciary towards these Incidents, the number of Incidents of riots in India is increasing day by day but the Conviction rates are declining over a number of years. In most of these cases, either the cases remain pending in courts for years or the accused are acquitted because of casual attitudes of judges.

1.Recent Bhima Koregaon Incident

In the Recent Bhima Koregaon Incident, the Dalits assembled in Bhima Koregaon to celebrate the victory of Mahar soldiers who fought with the Britishers against the Peshawar soldiers who had to oppress the Dalits. The Injury to the people was not planned by the Dalits as initially they assemble peacefully without any arms and weapons. But, some Right-wing organization started calling this event as anti-national, because of which stone pelting and other violence occurred. As, a result of which Dalit calls for bandhs in Maharashtra and Pune.The Main mastermind in this incident was Jignesh Mevani and Umar Khalid as the situation of riots arises because of provocative speeches were given by them so as to call people on streets to retaliate. FIR has been registered against them by the police.

2.Muzaffarnagar riots

In 2013, The Riot between Hindu Jat and Muslim Community in Muzaffarnagar caused the death of 62 people out of which 42 are Muslims and 20 are Hindus. It is the worst violence that ever took in India. The army was deployed to bring the situation under control. The main cause of such riot is a traffic accident and an eve-teasing incident with the Hindu Jat girl which later turned into a communal violence. Police arrested 14 people. This case is still disputed and pending. Such Incidents just remain pending in courts for long duration providing no relief to the victims.

3. Vadodara riots

In 2006, Dargah riots occurred in Vadodara, Gujarat. As per the order of Municipal courts, it was ordered to remove the dargah of Syed Chishti Rashiduddin, a Sufi saint. In this incident, the police have used violence against Muslims during the Incident. In the Incident, 6 people were killed, 42 were injured. All the accused in this incident was later acquitted because of lack of any substantial proof against them, which shows the negligence on behalf of the police to conduct the investigation in the proper manner.

3. Gujarat riots

In 2002, Gujarat riots an anti-communal violence that took place in Gujarat had continued for 3 days. As a result of this, violence also took place in Ahmedabad, the trains were burnt in Godhra which cause the death of 5 Hindu pilgrims karsevak who were returning from Ayodhya on a train. The riots resulted in the Death of 1,044, 223 missing, and 2,500 injured. Out Of the dead people, 790 were Muslim and 254 were Hindu. In this case, the judges were not unbiased and the witnesses were intimidated from giving testimony. Later the case was transferred to SIT and in 2013, 249 conviction was done out of which 184 were Hindus and rest were Muslims.

Does Lack of Improper Investigation by the Police is a factor for Low Conviction Rates of Rioters in India?

The Conviction Rates of Rioters are declining and it clearly shows the negligent and casual attitude of Rioters in conducting the proper Investigation. In many of the cases, the accused are acquitted by the court because of lack of evidence against them. Therefore, the rioters go unpunished and the victims of such riots do the get any sought of relief. Just because of their improper and Independent investigations sometimes, the innocent are accused of an offence in such riots and they are acquitted after a long time.

NCRB Report on riots Committed in India

The NCRB report on the Number of riots that have been committed in India over a number of years are-

The NCRB Report on Rate of different types of riots

The NCRB report on the percentage of different types of riots that took place in the following years are-

NCRB Data on States with Highest Number of riot due to Caste Conflict

The NCRB data on different states in which the highest number of riots have occurred in the following years are-

What Steps should the government take to prevent riots in India?

As discussed the number of riots in India are increasing day by day, it is the duty of the government to maintain peace and harmony in the State therefore in order to prevent riots in India the government should take following steps-

• The Problems of Communalism is deep-rooted in the mindset of the people, therefore they should be made aware of the socio-economic and political causes of communalism in India;
• Secondly, Steps should be taken to prevent the political parties spreading communalism in the society which leads to the situation of Riot;
• Education can play a very important role in curbing such riots by teaching students about the idea of communalism ideologies that was rooted in our society during the British period;
• States are required to take adequate steps in order to prevent riots. The laws are required to be Strengthened, the punishments for Rioters should be made more Stringent;
• Media plays a very important role in preventing the riots. They act as a mediator between the government and the general public which can be very fruitful in order to bring the situation under control during riots;
• Special Courts should be set up for trying the matters relating to riots;
• Government should take steps to provide adequate reliefs to the victims of Communal riots;

Conclusions

From the above discussion, it can be concluded that India has become a hotbed of Communal riots because though the Number of cases of riots is increasing over a number of years but the rate of conviction of rioters is gradually declining which shows some kind of flaws in a legal system. There is lack of judicial activism in India in the matters of riots. Because of the casual attitude of Judiciary in such matters, the rioters go unpunished.It also shows the negligence on behalf of police officials in conducting a proper investigation and taking stringent actions against such rioters because of which sometimes the judiciary is bound to acquit the accused because of lack of proper evidence against them. It is the duty of the State to establish the National peace and to take some steps to end the misery of victims by making the laws more stringent and providing compensation to the victims of such riots and by filling the loopholes of laws.

References

1. Banwarilal and Ors. vs. State of Rajasthan, (1993)
2. Garib Singh And Ors. V. The state of Punjab, (1973)