SC/ST Atrocities Act: All you need to know about the law which protects Dalits; is it being misused?

Maratha Kranti Morcha in Maharashtra has demanded the removal of SC/ST Atrocities Act, citing its alleged misuse by Dalit community against upper-caste rivals.

New Delhi, Sept 26: One of the major demands of Maratha Kranti Morcha in Maharashtra is the scrapping of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Atrocities Act. The upper-caste Maratha community has accused Dalits of misusing the law against their rivals and opponents. The ideologues of the Maratha agitation have argued that Dalits are no longer the downtrodden community of the nation, and therefore the law should be either amended or completely abrogated. The protesters have alleged that several instances have come to light where members of Dalit community have used the law to settle personal, political scores against the rivals.

Responding the demand of Maratha Kranti Morcha, Minister of State for Social Justice and Welfare, Ramdas Athawale straightaway ruled out the possibility of striking down the law. Although Athawale expressed solidarity with their demand for reservation, he minced no words in claiming that the Dalit community would strive to any extent to protect the SC/ST Atrocities Act.

Can the law be misused?

The Atrocities Act provides more tooth to the police complaint of a member of SC/ST community rather than a complainant from the open category. A complaint registered under SC/ST Atrocities Act against any individual would be non-bailable in nature. The onus would be on the accused to prove his innocence. In most cases, the accused ends up paying into the demands of the Dalit complainant to make him withdraw the case against him. However, though there are instances of the law being misused, one cannot accuse the Dalit community of exercising their right with malicious intent. The Atrocities Act proved to be a game-changer in fighting casteism, especially in the Indo-Gangetic belt. Despite such a strong law, atrocities against members of Dalit community continues to be reported. Far from misusing it, the members of the downtrodden community are yet to be informed about the law which gives them the tooth to the fight against their oppressors. (ALSO READ: Maratha Kranti Morcha: Kopardi rape-murder case is only the triggering point – What really fuels the agitation)

All you need to know about SC/ST Atrocities Act:

The SC/ST Atrocities Act was passed in 1989 by the Parliament. The law listed down the forms of cruelty which was inflicted upon lower-caste people. The agenda of the legislation was to act untouchability and prevent atrocities against Dalits. After being passed by the Centre, the law was imposed on all states as well due to the quasi-federal polity in India. Here are the provisions of the law which aim to to empower the Dalit community:

1.2.Punishments for offence of atrocities, — 
Whoever, not being a member of a Scheduled Castes or a Scheduled Tribes, —

(i) Forces a member of a Scheduled Castes or a Scheduled Tribes to drink or eat any inedible or obnoxious substance;

(ii)Acts with intent to cause injury, insult or annoyance to any member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe by dumping excreta, waste matter, carcasses or any other obnoxious substance in his premies or neighbourholld;

(iii)Forcibly removes clothes from the person of a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe or parades him naked or with painted face or body or commits any similar act which is derogatory to human dignity; (iv) Wrongfully occupies or cultivates any land owned by, or allotted to, or notified by any competent authority to be allotted to, a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe or gets the land allotted to him transferred;

(v)Wrongfully dispossesses a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe from his land or premises or interferes with the enjoyment of his right over any land, premises or water;

(vi) Compels or entices a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe to do ‘begar’ or other similar forms of forced or bonded labour other than compulsory service for public purposes imposed by Government;

(vii) Forces or intimidates a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe not to vote or to vote to a particular candidate or to vote in a manner other than that provided by law; (viii)Institutes false, malicious or vexations suit or criminal or other legal proceedings against a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe;

(ix) Gives, any false or frivolous information to any public servant and thereby causes such public servant to use his lawful power to the injury or annoyance of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe;

(x) Intentionally insuits or intimidates with intent to humiliate a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe in any place within public view;

(xi)Assaults or uses forces to any woman belonging to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe with intent to dishonor or outrage her modesty;
(xii)Being in a position to dominate the will of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe and uses that position to exploit the sexually to which she would not have otherwise agreed;

(xiii) Corrupts or fouls the water of any spring, reservoir or any other source ordinarily used by members of the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes so as to render it less fit for the purpose for which it is ordinarily used; 

(xiv) Denies a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe any customary right of passage to a place of public resort or obstructs such member so as to prevent him from using or having access to a place of public resort to which other members of public or any section thereof have a right to use or access to; 

(xv) Forces or causes a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe to leave his house, village or other place of residence, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extent to five years and with fine.