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| The Supreme Court referred to how public administration has been threatened by the abuse of the SC/ST Act. |
The Supreme Court directs that public servants can only be arrested with the written permission of their appointing authority.
The anti-atrocities law, which protects Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes from casteist slurs and discrimination, has become an
instrument to “blackmail” innocent citizens and public servants, the Supreme Court observed in a judgment on Tuesday.
Issuing
a slew of guidelines to protect public servants and private employees
from arbitrary arrests under the Atrocities Act, the court directed that
public servants can only be arrested with the written permission of
their appointing authority. In the case of private employees, the Senior
Superintendent of Police concerned should allow it.
Besides this
precaution, a preliminary inquiry should be conducted before the FIR is
registered to check whether the case falls within the parameters of the
Atrocities Act and if it is frivolous or motivated.
The past three
decades have seen complainants — who belong to the marginalised
sections of society — use the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 to exact “vengeance” and satisfy
vested interests, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices A.K. Goel and U.U.
Lalit said in their 89-page judgment.
“Innocent citizens are
termed accused, which is not intended by the legislature. The
legislature never intended to use the Atrocities Act as an instrument to
blackmail or to wreak personal vengeance,” the Supreme Court observed.
Source : http://www.thehindu.com/
