India is a homeland to De-Notified Tribes, Semi-Nomadic Tribes and Nomadic Tribes, constituting 10% of India’s population. Their nomadism was perceived as a challenge to Britishers. They started nomads' forced – settlement. Consequently, they lost their traditional occupation; compelling them to resort to criminal acts. To suppress them, they were declared as ‘criminal tribes’ under Criminal Tribes Act (1871); later extended to whole of India by Criminal Tribes Act, 1911 (amended in 1924).
In 1949, Criminal Tribes Act, 1911 was repealed. Nonetheless systematic discrimination and social stigma resulted in extension of Madras Restriction of Habitual Offenders Act, 1948 to Delhi in 1951. The Act declares that every person registered under C.T. Act, 1924 at the time of commencement of this Act and in the last five years ordered to give security under Section 110, Code of Criminal Procedure, or convicted under Section 24 of Act (1924), will be subject to this Act (Section 16). The Act has empowered to restrict the movement of notified offenders to a specified area. Also authorities may establish and order them to be placed in industrial, agricultural or reformatory settlements; contravention of which will result in their arrest. Moreover the jurisdiction of court is barred (Section 15). Since colonial times, police maintains the databases of DNTs. When they move out of settlement, they have to give details to police. They are picked up by police as a suspect in many cases and are brutally beaten up. The State Police Manual indoctrinates the police that DNTs are ‘born criminals’.
The Union and State Governments are implementing various schemes for the welfare of DNTs, but the colonial stigma severely hampers their development. This research work will use mixed approach, doctrinal and empirical methodology, which will involve case studies and narratives of DNTs in selected areas of Delhi.
