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Source: The post is based on the article “Punish vandals: Needed: smart law on property damaged in protests” published in The Times of India on 1st October 2022.
Syllabus: GS 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation..
Relevance: About the damages to public and private property and limiting them.
News: Recently, the Kerala high court directing Popular Front of India (PFI) to deposit Rs 5.2 crore for damages incurred during the banned outfit’s flash hartal is a rare case of speedy remedial action.
How damages to public and private property is handled in India?
Those damaging public and private property must be effectively deterred.
Government actions
Central government: The government enacted the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984. The government introduced an amendment bill in 2015. The bill suggested placing the burden of proof on the accused, fixing responsibility on organisations and office-bearers, and pegging the fine as the market value of public property damaged.
State government: Some states have enacted their own laws. But they vary from state to state. For instance, Kerala enacted a law in 2019 to recover damages for private property destruction but left out public property. In contrast, UP’s 2020 law enables recovery of damages for both public and private property.
Judicial actions
The Supreme Court’s 2009 guidelines prescribed a fair procedure. High Courts were empowered to initiate suo motu proceedings and appoint a judicial officer as Claims Commissioner.
What are the concerns associated with various laws regarding damages to public and private property?
a) The Centre’s law, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984, is outdated and narrowly focused on criminal prosecution, b) The state governments did not implement the law effectively. For example, the SC found great divergence from due process in the recovery of damages from anti-CAA protesters and directed UP to follow this law properly.
What needs to be done to limit the damages to public and private property?
a) Uniform central legislation that ensures time-bound inquiry into damages, recovery of assets and criminal prosecution of rioters is needed, b) The government also need to fix the fault of police officers and government negligence in preventing violence.
