Arrests in SC/ST atrocity cases only after SSP’s nod, rules SC

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday banned automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases under the Scheduled Castes (SC) and the Scheduled Tribes (ST) Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, a legislation meant to protect the marginalised communities from abuse and discrimination.

A bench of Justices AK Goel and UU Lalit ruled that no arrests can be made under the act without prior permission. It also held that a court can grant a pre-bail arrest (anticipatory bail) if it, prima facie, finds the complaint is an abuse of the law, false, motivated and intended to blackmail or harass a person.

This was necessary, the court said, to prevent the “rampant misuse of the tough provisions of the law”. “A law should not result in caste hatred,” the bench said.

Currently, the SC/ST Act bars a court from granting anticipatory bail to a person accused of the offence. On receiving a complaint, the police are bound to immediately register a First Information Report (FIR) and arrest the accused. A convicted person under the Act faces between six months in prison to capital punishment.

The law was first enacted in 1989 and strengthened in 2015, when caste slurs was also brought under its ambit.

But conviction rates remain low and many activists complain that local police and law administration often dilute provisions and conduct shoddy investigation, resulting in high rates of acquittal. In 2016, for example, the National Crime Records Bureau recorded that the national rate of conviction for cases filed under the SC/ST Act stood at 15.4%.

In contrast, conviction rate under the Unlawful Activities Act stood at 33.3% and the Electricity Act was 89.8%.