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Was the SC right on the anti-atrocities law?
Context
The recent Supreme Court ruling on the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities)
Author is in agreement with the SC’s view
It directs the police to verify all the facts of a case before registering a complaint under the Act so as to ensure that justice is done to both the complainant and the accused.
Misuse of the law happens
If a complaint is registered under the said Act, without verifying the facts of a case, isn’t one going against the very principles of natural justice? Shouldn’t every citizen get a fair opportunity to defend herself?
Rural and urban areas
- Complaint without verification leads to low conviction rate: The reasons behind the low conviction, which is 15%, is because cases are registered without proper investigation and a simple accusation leads to an FIR which does not stand scrutiny in a court of law
- Way of Harassing people: This exercise is a way to harass people and is a complete waste of time of both the police and the court
- A way of settling personal disputes in rural areas
- More cases under the Act are filed in rural areas as opposed to urban areas where caste identities are blurred
- It is easier to falsely implicate people in rural areas
- Every time there is a fight or a dispute in rural pockets, it is given a caste angle and someone or the other gets implicated under the Atrocities Act
