ON SEPTEMBER 6, upcoming Saturday, at 5:30 PM, the Criminal Justice and Police Accountability Project will host its Annual Vimukta Diwas Lecture. This year’s theme — ‘Juvenile Justice and the Criminalisation of the Vimukta Children’ — and delivering the lecture this year is Justice (Retd.) Anjana Prakash, formerly serving in the Patna High Court, and currently senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India.
The Leaflet is happy to join in as media partners for the Annual Vimukta Diwas Lecture this year.
Mark your calendars: September 6, 2025 | 5:30 PM
Where to watch: YouTube Livestream
About the CPA Project
The CPA Project is a research and litigation based intervention into the criminalisation of oppressed caste communities particularly the Denotified Tribes. Our empirical research report on the MP Excise Act (released by Justice Lokur in 2021), the Wildlife Protection Act (released by Justice S. Muralidhar in 2022) and everyday policing practices in Guna (released by Justice Muralidhar and Mohan Gopal in 2025) highlighted the disproportionate impact of policing on Denotified Tribes or Vimuktas and forest dwelling communities.
CPA wishes to commemorate the occasion of Vimukta Diwas marking 73 years since the repeal of the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) of 1871 which categorised numerous nomadic and semi nomadic tribes as 'born criminals', by reflecting on the legacy of this law in a post-colonial, constitutional democracy.
The Vimukta Divas Lecture
This year, the commemoration of Vimukta Divas will reflect the legal implications for children from Vimukta/denotified tribal communities. Through questions of juvenile laws and justice, the lecture will touch upon the complexities of the criminal justice system that further stigmatise Vimukta children's access to education, health and their well-rounded development. Justice Anjana Prakash will speak to the continuing legacy of criminalised communities and habitual offender labels and its repercussions for childhood development.
Our inaugural lecture in 2022 was delivered by Justice S.R. Bhat. Followed by Justice Viswanathan in 2023, who delivered a lecture titled 'Policing of Habitual offenders' reflecting on the ongoing criminalisation of Denotified Tribes as habitual offenders. This ultimately served as a bedrock in his ruling in Amanatullah Khan vs Union of India. The lecture last year was delivered by Justice Oka titled 'Indian Constitution and Denotified Tribes'.
Join us this Saturday as we commemorate this important moment together.