Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
The Act was passed to make punishment more stringent and it made untouchability a criminal & non-bailable offence.
Some Major Features of the Act
Creation of new types of offences not in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or in the Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955 (PCRA).
Crimes among SCs and STs or between STs and SCs do not come under the purview of this Act.
Enhanced minimum punishment for public servants.
Punishment for neglect of duties by a public servant (Section 4).
Cancellation of arms licenses in the areas identified where an atrocity may take place or has taken place and grant arms licenses to SCs and STs.
Denial of anticipatory bail (Section 18) provided in Section 438 of the CrPC.
Denial of probation to convict (Section 19).
Issues
The most problematic part of the implementation of the Act has been poor conviction rate (around 26%). . The total pendency of cases under the act stands at an alarming 84 per cent. The state machinery i.e. police and judicial administration must improve their investigation and litigation aspects to ensure better conviction rates.
In case of misuse, a law balancing both the aspects i.e. addressing the atrocities and preventing innocents from misuse must be drafted after consultation with the stakeholders.
