Wrote to Centre to amend law on snatching: AAP government to Delhi High Court

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government told the Delhi High Court that it has written to the Centre to consider amending the penal provisions to deal with the serious issue of chain snatching in the Capital.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar asked the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to file a status report on the action taken by it on the letter written by the Delhi government.

Delhi government's additional standing counsel, Gautam Narayan informed the bench that Haryana and Punjab have made snatching a separate offence after amending the law.

He said the Delhi government has written a letter to the MHA to take action on it but it has not received any response yet.

The court was hearing a petition by advocate Prashant Manchanda, who has alleged that chain snatchings in the city have seen a six-fold rise leading to a fear psychosis in the minds of citizens as well as tourists, who are also targeted by the perpetrators. The court listed the matter for hearing on August 1.

During the hearing, the petitioner contended that the Delhi Police were booking the offenders of such a crime in a routine manner under milder provisions which entail a punishment of only up to three years.

The court asked the Delhi Police to examine the issue while considering this aspect.

It had earlier issued a notice to the Delhi government, police and the municipal corporations and sought their replies to the plea which also contended that various parks in the city were the hubs of such crimes and the criminal elements frequented such places due to lack of vigilance.

"Many incidents of snatching entail serious wounds and also involve use of deadly weapons, leading to fatal injuries or death of the victims, the petition has said.

Manchanda had earlier told the court that the state of Haryana, recognising the seriousness of the problem, has made inclusions in the penal law IPC to make it harsher against snatchings," the court said.

It had also said that in Maharashtra too, the punishment for snatching has been made stringent and in some cases, the Mumbai police has also invoked Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).