Chandigarh, Jul 12 (PTI) Punjab Cabinet today did not approve the Punjab Control of Organised Criminals Act (PCOCA) 2016, aimed at dealing with organsied gangs involved in criminal activities, and sent it to the state Advocate General for re-examination.
"PCOCA has been kept pending and sent to the AG to see if there is any provision in the law which can be misused," an official source said.
Modelled on the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, this proposed law aims at ensuring imprisonment of dreaded gangsters, who in most cases are acquitted because of witnesses turning hostile. PCOCA proposes that confessions made before an SP would be admissible as evidence.
Earlier, Punjab Police had said that there was "not a single conviction" in the 55 trials of gangsters since 2010 and they were acquitted as most cases had fallen flat because of witnesses turned hostile.
Between 1996 and March 2016, out of 105 concluded cases pertaining to gangsters, there were only 10 convictions while the rest resulted in acquittal, police had said.
