the goan I network
PANAJI
Witnesses in serious criminal cases who hitherto were left to fend for themselves while facing intimidation and threats to force them against testifying in court may now be able to breathe easy.
The Goa government has adopted and notified an elaborate ‘witness protection scheme’ designed by the Union Home Ministry on the direction of the Supreme Court.
Top Goa police officials and prosecutors, contacted by The Goan, were upbeat and admitted it will make life easier for them.
The move will help cut down prosecution debacles drastically and witnesses either failing to show up at trials or turning hostile in the witness box in the trial courts could drop.
In the notification published in the official gazette, Under Secretary (Home) Nilesh K Dhaigodkar said, the scheme enunciated by the Supreme Court is adopted by the State government in terms of Article 141/142 of the Constitution of India.
The scheme acknowledges that the ability of a witness to give testimony in a judicial setting or to cooperate with law enforcement and investigations without fear of reprisal is essential to ensure investigation, prosecution and trial of criminal offences is not derailed because witnesses are intimidated and frightened to testify without protection from violent recrimination.
It aims to identify measures to safeguard witnesses and their family members from intimidation and threats against their lives, reputation and property, particularly in cases where influential individuals are involved.
Previous measures to preempt intimidation of witnesses were introduced in 2006 through a section 195A of the Indian Penal Code which made it a criminal offence punishable with a seven-year sentence.
Other such measures were also brought in through the Juvenile Justice (Acre and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, the Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2011 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
None of these measures however took the form of a structured programme to address witness protection holistically.
Apart from the need of witness safety during trial, protection to them during investigation is also crucial which the current scheme seeks to address.
Under the scheme, witness protection would vary from simply providing a police escort to the courtroom and
using modern audio-visual technology to record testimony off-site.
Another area addressed by the scheme is witness safety in more complex cases, involving organised
criminal gangs where ‘extraordinary measures’ are adopted including maintaining anonymity, offering temporary residence in a safe house, giving a new identity and relocating them at undisclosed destinations on a case-to-case basis.
In such cases where extreme measures such as changing identity or relocating witnesses at
undisclosed destinations is involved, the scheme specifies the protocol for assessing the need for such measures.
A “Competent Authority” will assess the threat perception of the witness seeking protection before finalizing what nature of protective measures are needed.
The ‘competent authority’, according to the scheme, will be a ‘Standing Committee’ in each of the two districts of North Goa and South Goa. The District and Sessions Judge will head it and the District Superintendent of Police will be its member. The seniormost public prosecutor in the district will be the standing committee’s member secretary.
Family members of witnesses eligible for the protection include parents or guardian, spouse, live-in partner, siblings, children and grandchildren.
The scheme also categorises witnesses as Category ‘A’, where life, his/hers and also that of the family members, is under threat during investigation/trial or thereafter.
The Category ‘B’ witnesses are those where the threat relates to safety, reputation or property. And finally Category ‘C’ where the threat is moderate and relates to harassment or intimidation.
It also makes a provision for setting up a corpus under a State Witness Protection Fund which will be utilized to defray the expenses of providing such protection. It will be supported by an annual allocation made in the budget by the State government.
It also articulates that witnesses are to be apprised of the scheme by the investigating officer (IO) and also by the Court which is trying the case.
Several top police officials The Goan contacted for their views were upbeat about it.
Almost all the officials were unanimous that the move to formalize protection to witnesses will make failure of prosecution in serious cases a rare occurrence, if the scheme unlike several other equally if not more ambitious ones does not stay merely on paper.
