The Case That Led To The Dilution Of SC/ST Act By The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court's order diluting the three-decade old Act that provided protection to people from Scheduled Castes/Tribes, has left the people from "weaker" section upset.

The original complainant in the case that lead to the "retrogade" ruling, Bhaskar Gaikwad, feels that the decision was a step backward and is determined to file a review petition in the court. "The rights of the poor needs to be protected," he told The Indian Express.

The Apex Court on Tuesday observed "rampant misuse" of stringent laws under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 diluting it to give protection to civil servants. The court, in its ruling, made a preliminary inquiry mandatory before registering a case, prior sanction before arrest and laid down provisions for anticipatory bail.

The court was hearing an eight-year old case lodged by Gaikwad, who then worked as a store keeper in the Government Pharmacy College. In his FIR filed in Karad, He alleged that two of his seniors Satish Bhise and Kishor Burade (both under General category) had made an averse entry in his Annual Confidential Report (ACR) that his integrity and character was not good.

The case that was taken up at the Bombay High Court that observed that Bhise and Burade were both Brahimns and knew for a fact that the complainant belonged to Mahar community. Subhash Kashinath Mahajan, the then Director of Technical Education, had refused to grant sanction for prosecution against the said people. Following the development Gaikwad filed another complaint against him, reportedLiveLaw.

Since the Bombay High Court had refused to quash the complaint, Mahajan had now approached the Supreme Court.

"Law should not result in caste hatred. The preamble to the Constitution, which is the guiding star for interpretation, incorporates the values of liberty, equality and fraternity," said the Supreme Court Bench comprising Justice AK Goel and Justice UU Lalit while issuing directions preventing the misuse of Scheduled Caste/Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989.

The court observed ramnpant misuse of the law, he said that "...(the) Act cannot be converted into a charter for exploitation or oppression by any unscrupulous person or by police for extraneous reasons against other citizens."

The decision was unsettled the Dalit representative in the government as well. "There is a feeling of insecurity among SCs, STs and other oppressed classes," the Congress said while urging the government to file a review petition in the matter.

"There could be exceptions and some may have misused the law. But there are too many incidents of attacks and atrocities against the communities. The Dalit community is too weak to misuse the laws in many parts of the country," a Dalit BJP MP was quoted as saying by TIE.