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Organised Crimes[1]
QUESTION BANK
Q.1 What is organised Crime? Explain the Provisions to control organised crimes.
Q.2 Explain the provisions of MACOCA.
SHORT NOTES
Q.1 Organised crimes.
Q.2 MACOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act 1999).
SYNOPSIS
I] Introduction
II] Definitions
1) Maharashtra Control Of Organised Crimes Act 1999 S. 2 (e) defines
2) According to Sellin
III] Characteristics of organised crime
1) Group of criminals
2) Continuous criminal activities
3) Signaly or jointly
4) Resort violence
5) Object is to gain etc.,
IV] Types of Organised crimes
1) Organised Gang criminality
2) Racketeering
3) Syndicate Crime
4) Smuggling
5) Collective violence
V] Response to organised crime
1) Proper law enforcement
2) Social and Economic Effects
NOTE
Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act 1999 (MCOCA)
I] Introduction
II] Definition of organised crime [S. 2 (e)]
III] Other important provisions of the Act
1) Punishment for organised crime
- 3 provides punishment as follows
- a) Whoever, commits an offence of organised crime shall
- b) Conspiracy, attempt etc.,
- c) Harboring or concealing organised crime
- e) Holds property obtained by organised crime
- f) Possessing unacceptable wealth (S. 4)
2) Constitution of Special Courts (S. 5)
- a) Jurisdiction of Special Court
- b) Power of Special Courts with respect to other offences (S. 7)
- c) Procedure and powers of Special Court (S. 9)
1) Taking cognizance
2) Summary trial
3) Power to tender pardon
4) Powers of Sessions Court
5) Authorisation of interception of wire, electric or oral
communication (S. 14)
6) Special Rules of Evidence (S. 17)
7) Certain confessions made to police officer to be
taken into consideration (S. 18)
8) Protection of witnesses (S. 19)
9) Forfeiture and attachment of property (S. 20)
10) Presumption as to offences (S. 22)
11) Cognizance of and an investigation into an offence
I] INTRODUCTION:-
For quite some years, organised crimes have been posing a serious threat to all societies and nations. It knows no national boundaries and is fuelled by illegal wealth generated by contract killing, extortion, smuggling, illegal trade in narcotics, kidnapping for ransom, collection of protection money and money lending etc.,
Illegal wealth and black money generated by the organised crime syndicate, being huge, have serious adverse effects on our economy. It has been seen that the organised crime syndicate has made a common cause with terrorist gangs to foster Norco- terrorism which extends beyond the national boundaries.
Organised syndicates are extensively using wise and oral communications in their criminal activities.
Organised crimes need to be handled high-handedly to curb serious threats to society. Therefore, in Maharashtra, the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act. 1999 is passed. Several States have passed laws to control organised crimes, taking inspiration from the Act passed in Maharashtra.-
II] DEFINITIONS:-
We will discuss the following definitions-
1) Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act. 1999 (briefly called ‘MCOCA) S. 2 (e) defines-
“Organised crime” means
“(i) any continuing activity
(ii) by an individual, singly or jointly,
(iii) either as a member of an organised crime syndicate or on behalf of such syndicate
(iv) by use of violence or threat of violence or intimidation or coercion, or other useful means,
(v) with the objective of gaining pecuniary benefits, undue economic or other advantages,
(vi) for himself or any person or promoting insurgency.”
2) According to Sellin, “organised crime resembles those economic adventures or enterprises which are organised to carry on illegal activities”.
Thus, an organised crime is an act committed by two or more criminals as a joint venture in a systematically organised manner. In other words, organised crime is an illegal act committed by members of an unlawful association with mutual cooperation and adventure.
III] Characteristics of Organised Crime:-
From the above definitions, we may lay down characteristics of organised crimes as follows, viz.
1) Group of Criminals:-
In organised crimes, a group of criminals of considerable size commit continuous crimes.
2) Continuous Criminal Activities:-
The gang of such criminals does continuous unlawful activities. They continue unlawful activities for a long time.
3) Singly or jointly:-
Such persons carry out unlawful activities singly or jointly, either as a member or on behalf of an organised crime syndicate.
4) Resort Violence:-
Members of such organised crime syndicates resort to violence or threat of violence, intimidation or coercion or other unlawful means to achieve their objective.
5) Object is to Gain etc.,:-
Members of such organised crime syndicates resort to violence to gain pecuniary benefits, undue economic or other advantages or promote insurgency.
IV] Types of Organised crimes:-
Organised crimes can be classified into the following-
1) Organised Gang Criminality[2]:-
Organised criminals carry out conventional offences like Bank robbery, hijacking, murder, kidnapping for ransom, vehicle thefts, jewel theft etc.,
Organised gang criminality is dangerous and often extremely violent; however, it does not constitute as much of a threat to society as other types of organised criminality do. These gangs can be controlled by police action.
2) Racketeering[3]:-
Racketeering is the practice of systematic extortion under some kind of threat, usually of personal injury or property.
The persons who carry out illegal businesses like prostitution, gambling, drug trafficking, etc., are especially vulnerable to racketeering. Money is paid to the racketeers as a consideration for their protection given to such illegitimate businesses.
3) Syndicate Crime[4]:-
A syndicate is a gang of criminals engaged in the business of providing some forbidden or illegal services to customers. Such customers are desirous of having such services and are willing to pay handsomely for those services. In other words, syndicates operate due to the availability of a market for illegal, prohibited services such as gambling, bootlegging, prostitution, and supply of narcotic drugs etc.; by their services, these crime syndicates make a huge profit.
4) Smuggling[5]:-
Smuggling is the illegal import and export of goods. Smuggling is the direct result of the import and export policies of the government. To increase domestic products, the government imposes a heavy duty on popular foreign products, which allows smugglers to import those products illegally and sell them in the domestic market. Similar is the case with export. A government does not allow some products to be exported to cope with domestic demand or scarcity of those goods in the domestic market. As a result, smugglers illegally export those products or articles and earn huge amounts of money.
Most of the goods imported through smugglers are gold, narcotic drugs, synthetic fabric, watches, electronic goods, etc.; goods mainly exported through smugglers are foreign and Indian currency, snake skin, antique articles like idols etc.,
Smuggling trade sometimes equates with a country’s legal import and export trade. Despite stringent import and export laws, smuggling could not be stopped.
5) Collective Violence:-
Collective violence is a severe kind of organised crime. It seriously affects men’s material and economic wealth. The Common forms of collective violence are terrorism, Naxalism, gang warfare, mass hooliganism, etc.
Following remedies can be suggested to reduce collective violence-
- Poverty reduction and economic development.
- Transparent and accountable decision-making.
- Reducing inequalities in society.
- Reducing access to weapons of mass destruction such as
chemical weapons, nuclear weapons, biological weapons, etc.,
- Promoting and respecting human rights.
- Positive and cooperative efforts at the international level to nab
international criminals and terrorists.
V] Response to Organised Crime:-
Many laws have been passed to curb the menace of organised crimes; however, due to political influence and lack of proper implementation of them, it has become difficult to curb the menace.
The following can be suggested as some of the means to control organised crimes.
1) Proper Law Enforcement:-
Enactment of adequate and appropriate laws and their efficient enforcement is crucial to curb organised crimes.
In India, there are several laws; however, they have failed due to a want for effective implementation.
Indian Penal Code, The Customs Act, the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activates Act, the Foreign Exchange Management Act, MCOCA etc.,
2) Social and Economic Effects:-
Effective economic strategy is crucial to curb organised crimes. The Government can adopt sound policies regarding producing and distributing essential commodities. The governments can burst organised crime by establishing legitimate markets, etc.
NOTE
Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act 1999 (MCOCA)-
I] Introduction:-
For quite some years, organised crime has become a grave threat to our society. It knows no national boundaries and is fuelled by illegal wealth generated by contract killings, extortion, smuggling in contrabands, illegal trade in narcotics, kidnappings for ransom, collecting protection money, money laundering etc. The massive amount of illegal wealth and black money generated by organised crime has seriously affected our economy. Moreover, it was seen that the organised criminal syndicates made a common cause with terrorist gangs and fostered terrorism beyond national boundaries. There was reason to believe that organised criminal gangs had been operating in the State and, thus, there was an immediate need to curb their activities. Therefore, the Act is enacted to make special provisions for preventing and controlling criminal activity by organised crime syndicates or gangs and for matters connected in addition to that or incidental thereto.
II] Definition of organised crime [S. 2 (e)]:-
“Organised Crime” means ‘any continuing unlawful activity by an individual, singly or jointly, either as a member of an organised crime syndicate or on behalf of such a syndicate, by use of violence or threat of violence or intimidation or coercion, or other unlawful means, with the objective of gaining pecuniary benefits, or gaining undue economic or other advantages for himself or any other person or promoting insurgency’.
III] Other important provisions of the Act:-
1) Punishment for organised crime:-
- 3 provides punishment as follows-
a) Whoever commits an offence of organised crime shall-
- If such an offence has resulted in the death of any person, it is punishable with (i) death or (ii) imprisonment for life, and (iii) shall also be liable to a fine, subject to a minimum fine of one lac.
- in any other case- be punishable with (i) imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than five years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and (iii) shall also be liable to a fine, subject to a minimum fine of rupees five lacs.
b) Conspiracy, attempt etc.,
Whoever conspires or attempts to commit or advocates, abets or knowingly facilitates the commission of an organised crime or any act preparatory to organised crime shall be punishable with (i) imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than five years but which may extend, to imprisonment for life and (ii) shall also be liable to a fine, subject to a minimum fine of rupees five lacs.
c) Harbouring or concealing an organised crime:-
Whoever harbours or conceals or attempts to harbour or conceal any member of an organised crime syndicate shall be punished with (i) imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than five years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and (ii) shall also be liable to a fine subject to a minimum fine of rupees five lacs.
d) Member of an organised crime syndicate:-
Any person who is a member of an organised crime syndicate shall be punished with (i) imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than five years but which may extend to imprisonment for life and (ii) shall also be liable to a fine, subject to a minimum fine of rupees five laces.
e) Holds property obtained by organised crime:-
Whoever holds any property derived or obtained from the commission of an organised crime or which has been acquired through the funds of an organised crime syndicate shall be punished with (i) imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and (ii) shall also be liable to fine, subject to a minimum fine of rupees two lacs.
f) Possessing unacceptable wealth (S. 4):-
Suppose any person on behalf of an organised crime syndicate member is, or, at any time, has been, in possession of movable or immovable property which he cannot satisfactorily account for. In that case, he shall be imprisoned for a term which shall not be less than three years but may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to a fine, subject to a minimum fine of rupees one lac. Moreover, such property shall also be liable for attachment and forfeiture.
2) Constitution of Special Courts (S. 5):-
(1) The State government may, by notification in the official Gazette, constitute one or more Special Courts for such area or areas or for such case or class or group of cases as may be specified in the notification.
(2) Where any question arises as to the jurisdiction of any Special Court, it shall be referred to the State Government, whose decision shall be final.
(3) A special Judge presided over shall be appointed by the State Government, with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.
(4) To be qualified as a Special Judge, the person, immediately before such appointment, must be a Session Judge or an Additional Sessions Judge.
When there are Additional Judges or Judges, the Special Court acts as an administrative head to distribute matters among them.
a) Jurisdiction of Special Court:-
The Special Courts constituted under the Act have jurisdiction to conduct a trial for all offences made punishable under the Act. Accordingly, crimes are tried at the Special Court in whose local jurisdiction the offence is committed.
b) Power of Special Courts concerning other offences (S. 7):-
While trying any offence punishable under this Act, the Special Court may also try any other offence punishable under I.P.C. in the same trial.
Suppose, in the course of a trial under this Act, it is found that the accused person has committed any other offence under any other law; the Special Court (constituted under this Act) may convict such accused of such other offences and may pass any sentence authorised by this Act or, as the case may be, by such other law.
c) Procedure and powers of Special Court (S. 9):-
1) Taking cognizance:-
A Special Court may take cognizance of any offence without the accused being committed to it for trial upon receiving a complaint of facts that constitute such offence or a police report of such facts.
2) Summary trial:-
Where an offence triable by a Special Court is punishable with imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, with a fine, or with both, the Special Court may try the case in summary under the Criminal Procedure Code.
However, it can award a sentence of up to two years on conviction.
3) Power to tender pardon:-
The Supreme Court may, with the view of obtaining any evidence of a person supposed to have been directly or indirectly concerned or privy to an offence, tender a pardon to such person on condition of his making full and true disclosure of the whole circumstance within his knowledge, relating to the offence and every other person concerned whether as principal or abettor, in the commission thereof.
4) Powers of Sessions Court:-
For the purpose of trial of any offence, a Special Court shall have all the powers of the Court of Session and shall try such offences as if it were a court of Sessions.
5) Authorisation of interception of wire, electric or oral communication (S. 14):-
The Act authorises the police to interrupt the offender’s wire, electronic, or oral communication. This is a very peculiar power.
6) Special Rules of Evidence (S. 17):-
Some peculiar provisions as to rules of evidence are made in this section, viz.
The court may consider, as having probative value, the facts that the accused was bound under S. 107 or S. 110 of the Criminal Procedure Code on any previous occasion. In other words, the bond under S. 107 or 110 of Cr. P.C. was obtained from the accused previously.
7) Certain confessions made to a police officer to be taken into consideration (S. 18):-
This is a very peculiar type of provision contrary to the provision under the Evidence Act. The provision under this Act provides that a confession made by a person before a police officer, not below the rank of superintendent of police and recorded by such police officer either in writing or on any mechanical devices, cassettes, tapes, or soundtracks from which sounds or images can be reproduced, shall be an admission of such person or co-accused, abettor or conspirator.
8) Protection of witnesses (S. 19):-
The Act in S. 19 makes provisions as to holding proceedings in camera, keeping the identity of witnesses secret, holding proceedings at different places, and prohibiting publication of proceedings before Special Court etc.,
9) Forfeiture and attachment of property (S. 20):-
Upon conviction, the Special Court may, in addition to awarding any punishment may, order forfeiture of his property to the State Government.
10) Presumption as to offences (S. 22):-
The Act makes peculiar provisions as to the presumption of certain offences under S. 3 on proof of certain facts mentioned under S. 22, such as the recovery of arms and material used in organised crime or the finding of fingerprints of the accused at the site of offence or on any arms or other materials used in offence etc.,
11) Cognizance of and an investigation into an offence:-
The Act also insert peculiar provision as to taking cognizance under this Act; it lays down that-
(i) No information about the commission of an offence of organised crime under
this Act shall be recorded by a police officer without the prior approval of the
police officer not below the rank of the Deputy Inspector General of Police.
(ii) No investigation of an offence under the provisions of this Act shall be carried
out by a police officer below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police.
(iii) No Special Court shall take cognizance of any offence under this Act, without
the prior sanction of the police officer not below the rank of Additional
Director General of Police.
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[1] संघटीत गुन्हेगारी
[2] संघटीत टोळीची गुन्हेगारी
[3] धाकधपटशाही करून पैसे उकळणारी गुन्हेगारी टोळी
[4] बेकायदेषीर वस्तु, सेवा पुरविणारी गुन्हेगारी टोळी
[5] मालाची चोरून आयात निर्यात करणारी गुन्हेगारी टोळी