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The Katta Panchayat culture
Venkatesa Pannayar, a prominent
leader from the Nadar community who was recently shot dead in an encounter, and
Pasupathy Pandian, a prominent Dalit leader, who was recently arrested with
bombs and ammunition, were allegedly involved in various katta panchayats and
had threatened their victims.
Katta panchayat is nothing but
an 'out of court' and 'out of police station' settlement in financial and
property disputes. Some local gangsters who have political affiliations, and in
some cases even local politicians are involved in this trade in Chennai and its
outskirts and have earned substantial amounts in recent years. These gangsters
and politicians, with the help of muscle power used to act as debt collecting
agencies and arbitrators in property disputes.
In the case of Venkatesa
Pannayar's episode, Sameer, a leading businessman had to pay a debt of 1 crore
and 37 lakhs to another businessman. The affected businessman had approached
Venkatesa Pannayar for recovering the amount and it was alleged that Venkatesa
Pannayar had threatened Sameer.
If the collection had been
effected, Pannayar would have got several lakhs of rupees as a fee. Some rich
people also approach these gangsters to solve their property disputes. In the
case of vacating of houses and business premises also these gangsters would hold
negotiations with the persons occupying the property and make them vacate the
premises with threats of violence for which they would receive several lakhs of
rupees as fees.
Some powerful politicians from
leading political parties are involved in a new modus operandi. They would
select some vacant plots in their constituencies and make their own men occupy
the plots and put up huts. When the police express their helplessness, the
affected parties would naturally come to these politicians and after receiving a
huge amount, these politicians would settle the issue amicably. Several AIADMK
men and a prominent DMK MLA from Chennai and another TMC MLA from Chennai,
during the previous regimes were involved in such activities and had earned
substantial amounts.
The reason for the rise of this
katta panchayat culture can be attributed only to the slow judicial process and
inaction on the part of the police. Settlement of financial disputes through
courts take a very long time due to several adjournments of hearings and
appeals. Even if an arrest warrant were issued, most of them manage to get
anticipatory bail. And even if some of them are arrested, they easily come out
on bail after a short detention. As a result of this most of the victims
naturally take recourse to these katta panchayat gangsters.
The best way to eradicate this
culture lies in the hands of policemen. Policemen should never brush aside such
issues branding them as 'civil issues'. Even in the case of some civil issues,
the police should intervene and settle the issues conscientiously. Several
financial and property disputes which would have been prolonged for years in
courts, have been settled in police stations within a matter of days. So when
the police act promptly, such katta panchayat gangsters would become extinct as
the affected person would get justice expeditiously from the police.
 The Police Commissioner Dr. K.
Vijayakumar played a crucial role in putting a lid on this culture ever since he
assumed charge as the Police Commissioner of Chennai City. As soon as he took
charge, he gave instructions to all the local inspectors that in an area there
should one and only one policing authority, and that should be the local Police
Inspector. Several katta panchayat gangsters including those from the ruling
party have been strictly warned and cases have been registered against many of
them. Thanks to his sincere efforts, the culture has been brought under control
over the past two years . But again how long this will last is another question
as these gangsters are lying low for now and are only waiting for an opportunity
to raise their ugly heads again.
Harvey
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