THE SCHEDULED CASTES AND SCHEDULED TRIBES (PREVENTION OF ATROCITIES) ACT 1989
The Central Government enacted this important piece of legislation with the objective to prevent the commission of offences of atrocities against members of Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes and to provide for special courts for the trial of such offences and for the relief and rehabilitation of the victims of such offences and for incidental matters.
The following are acts of atrocities, among others, against the SC/ ST members which are punishable under the act.
•Forcing a member of SC/ST to drink or eat any inedible or obnoxious substance.
•Dumping excreta, waste matter, carcasses or other obnoxious substance in the premises of an SC/ST member.
•Removing cloths, parading naked with painted face or body etc on a SC/ST person.
•Wrongfully occupying or cultivating any land belonging to SC/ST member.
•Wrongfully dispossessing a person of SC/ST from his land or premises.
•Compelling or enticing a member of SC/ST to do ‘begar’ or similar forms of forced or bonded labor.
•Forcing a member of SC/ST not to vote or to vote to a particular candidate.
•Instituting malicious, false, vexatious suit, criminal or other legal proceedings against a member of SC/ST.
•Giving false or frivolous information to a public servant resulting in injury or annoyance to a SC/ST person.
•Insulting or intimidating with intent to humiliate a SC/ST person in any place within public view.
•Assaulting or using force on any woman belonging to SC/ST with intent to outrage her modesty.
•Denying a member of SC/ST any customary right of passage to a place of public resort, which other members of the public have a right of use.
Whoever commits the above atrocities is liable to be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 6 months but which may extend to 5 years and with fine.
If a public servant willfully neglects his duties required to be performed under this act, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 6 months, but which may extend to one year. Further the act provides for enhanced punishment for subsequent conviction. The court can even forfeit to the government, the property of an accused person which has been used in the commission of the offence proved. During the trial of the offence, the court has the power to attach the properties of the accused and later after the conclusion of the trial forfeit the same to the government.
The special courts under the act can even order the removal of a person, who is likely to commit an offence against the SC/ST people, from any scheduled area or a tribal area. If the person ordered fails to removes himself from the area, the special court can cause him to be arrested and removed in police custody from such area.
The provisions of anticipatory bail are not applicable for offences under this act.