Source: Rajasthan High Court 

Why in News?

Recently, the Rajasthan High Court in the matter of Chhinder Singh v. State has held that for the charge under Section 3 (1) (r) of the ST/SC (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 the insult must be done in public place. 

What was the Background of the Chhinder Singh v. State Case? 

• In the present case, the complainant filed a complaint before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate and the same was forwarded to the Police station for investigation under Section 156 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973(CrPC). 
• The First Information Report (FIR) was registered, and the inquiry was initiated where a negative report was filed by the Police. 
• The complainant filed a protest petition against the report and statements of the witnesses were recorded under Section 200 and 202 of CrPC. 
• It was argued that the petitioner had insulted him using derogatory terms and questioned his credibility regarding his affidavits 
• The Trial court took cognizance under Section 3 (1) (r) of the ST/SC (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.  
• Aggrieved, the petitioner filed a revision petition before the Special Judge which was dismissed. 
• Aggrieved by the same the present petition was filed before the Rajasthan High Court. 

What were the Court’s Observations? 

• The Rajasthan High Court observed that: 
  • As per Section 3 (1) (r) of the ST/SC (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 when a person who does not belong to St/SC insults or humiliate a person belonging to ST/SC at public place shall be liable for punishment. 
  • In the present case the complainant himself visited the petitioner for verifying his affidavits and the statements recorded does not imply that the remarks were made in Public. 
  • It was subsequently testified that three witnesses were present at the time when the remarks were made but no such mention was made when the complaint was filed. 
  • The Rajasthan High Court referred to certain judgements of the higher courts where it was held that to hold a decision against the negative report the Court must give reasons in writing while in the present case trial court failed to do so. 
• The Rajasthan High Court, therefore, allowed the present petition and dismissed the order of the Trial Court. 

What is ST/SC (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989? 

About the Act: 

• SC/ST Act 1989 is an Act of Parliament enacted to prohibit discrimination against SC & ST communities members and prevent atrocities against them. 
• The Act was passed in Parliament of India on 11th September 1989 and notified on 30 January 1990. 
• The Act is also a recognition of the depressing reality that despite undertaking several measures, the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes continue to be subjected to various atrocities at the hands of upper castes. 
• The Act has been enacted keeping in view the express constitutional safeguards enumerated in Articles 15, 17 and 21 of the Constitution of India, 1950 (COI), with a twin-fold objective of protecting the members of these vulnerable communities as well as to provide relief and rehabilitation to the victims of caste-based atrocities. 

SC/ST (Amendment) Act, 2015: 

• This Act was amended in the year 2015 for the purpose of making the act more stringent with the following provisions: 
  • Recognition was given to more instances of atrocities as crimes against SCs and STs. 
  • It added several new offences in Section 3 and renumbered the entire section since the recognized crime almost doubled. 
  • The Act added Chapter IVA Section 15A (the rights of victims and witnesses), and defined dereliction of duty by officials and accountability mechanisms more precisely. 
  • It provided for the establishment of exclusive special courts and special public prosecutors. 
  • In the context of public servants at all levels this Act defined the term willful negligence. 

SC/ST (Amendment) Act, 2018: 

• In the case of Prithvi Raj Chauhan v. Union of India (2020), the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of Parliament’s 2018 Amendment to the Prevention of Atrocities Act. The Salient features of this Amendment Act are as follows: 
  • It added Section 18A to the original Act. 
  • It delineates specific crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as atrocities and describes strategies and prescribes punishments to counter these acts. 
  • It identifies what acts constitute “atrocities” and all offences listed in the Act are cognizable. The police can arrest the offender without a warrant and start an investigation into the case without taking any orders from the court. 
  • The Act calls upon all the states to convert an existing sessions court in each district into a Special Court to try cases registered under it and provides for the appointment of Public Prosecutors/Special Public Prosecutors for conducting cases in special courts. 
  • It creates provisions for states to declare areas with high levels of caste violence to be “atrocity-prone” and to appoint qualified officers to monitor and maintain law and order. 
  • It provides for the punishment for willful neglect of duties by non-SC/ST public servants. 
  • It is implemented by the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations, which are provided due central assistance. 

Landmark Cases: 

• Bhagwan Sahai Khandelwal & ors. v. State of Rajasthan (2006): 
  • In the present case it was held that when a petition is followed by a negative report the magistrate, while allowing the petition must discuss the negative report and apply judicial mind before and pass an order with sufficient reason to do so. 
• Sampat Singh And Ors. v. State of Haryana and Ors. (1992): 
  • In the present case the Supreme Court held that before disagreeing with the negative report the magistrate must give sufficient reasons for doing so. 

What is Section 3(1)(r) of the SC/ST Act? 

• Section 3 of this Act deals with punishments for offences atrocities. 
• Section 3(1)(r) states that whoever, not being a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe intentionally insults or intimidates with intent to humiliate a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe in any place within public view shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to five years and with fine.