A Study on the Implementation of the Scheduled Caste and ...shabdbooks.com/gallery/423-april2020.pdf · 1989 was enacted to protect the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes from

A Study on the Implementation of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe

(Prevention of Atrocities) Act,1989 in the State of Telangana.

Nallabolu Rajeev Reddy Ph.D. Centre for the study of social exclusion and inclusive policy

University of Hyderabad.

Prof. K. Raja Mohan Rao.

Abstract

Despite many constitutional provisions in the constitution for the protection of Scheduled Castes

and the Scheduled Tribes, there was no significant improvement in their lives and the exclusions,

boycotts and discriminations continue to happen even today. The Scheduled Caste and Scheduled

Tribe (Prevention of atrocities) Act, 1989 was enacted to protect the Scheduled Castes and the

Scheduled Tribes from all kinds of atrocities by other castes in true spirit. The Telangana state

which was considered as a source of inspiration for many revolutionary movements all over the

world for its achievement of separate statehood also could not change the plight of SCs/STs. This

paper analyses the implementation of SC/ST Atrocity act in Telangana since its formation.

Keywords: compounded, charge sheeted, convicted, acquitted, FIR, NCRB

Introduction

Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes are a group of socially excluded communities who have

been, for several years, the victims of caste system in India. They are among the most deprived

socio-economic groups in India. The quantum of exclusion, humiliation, and discrimination faced

by these groups constantly by the dominant sections of the society shows the negative attitude of

the people towards the SC/STs in particular and the marginalized communities in general.

Scheduled Castes can be defined as the people within the structure of the Hindu caste system who

have historically witnessed and faced oppression, depression and social seclusion in India because

of the perceived social stigma in the society. Despite many constitutional provisions in the

constitution for the protection of Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, there was no

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significant improvement in their lives and the exclusions, boycotts and discriminations continue

to happen even today. The Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of atrocities) Act,

1989 was enacted to protect the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes from all kinds of

atrocities by non- Dalits in true spirit. This paper tries to analyze the implementation of the

Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of atrocities) Act, 1989 in the state of

Telangana.

Table 1.1 SC/ST atrocity cases in Telangana

Cases 2014 2015 2016 2017

Reported 1583 1645 1837 1760

False 649 518 468 173

Total Registered 934 1127 1369 1587

Charge sheeted 828 939 962 415

Convicted 25 20 13 00

Acquitted 281 144 55 05

Compounded 51 20 04 04

Pending 471 755 890 406

Under Investigation 52 134 360 1147

Trial over 357 184 72 09

Source: Telangana SC/ST Commission

According to the data available from the Telangana state SC/ST commission there has been a

consistent rise in the number of cases reported under the POA Act since the formation of the state.

The incidence of crime or the cases reported under the Act between 2014 and 2015 increased by

3.7% (from 1583 to 1645), between 2015 and 2016 increased by 10.5% (from 1645 to 1837). In

the year 2017, the reported cases for the year till September stood at 1760. The reported cases are

the cases where there is no established proof or evidence despite the incidence of crime. There has

been a consistent decrease in the number of false cases reported by the Scheduled Castes and

Scheduled Tribes under the atrocity Act which indicates that, according to some, the Act has not

been misused in majority of the reported cases. A study on the Dalit communities and the SC/ST

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atrocity Act in the state of Rajasthan titled “The myth of the false case: what the new Indian

Supreme Court Order on the SC/ST Act gets wrong about caste-based violence and legal

manipulation”1 has found that complaints considered as fraudulent or false are usually not

fraudulent at all. Rather, they are cases that have become caught up in a complicated web of

politics, corruption and a variety of contending personal and economic interests. According to a

Dalit Advocate of the High court of Telangana, the reasons for the cases registered under the POA,

Act are declared or proved ‘false’ or ‘mistake of fact’ or ‘mistake of law’ could be mainly because

of the pressure from economically and politically influential people supported by the corrupt police

officials. The Final Report (FR) is seen by the superintendent of police before it is presented before

the court. The SP informs the complainant about the case and asks if he/she goes with it. As they

are dependent on upper castes for their livelihood and the loyalty shown by them towards the upper

castes make them go to any extent. The so-called upper-caste persons in the process of taking

revenge on their enemies use and compel the dependent SC/ST member to file a complaint against

another upper-caste member as an act of intimidation. The overall percentage of ‘false’ cases

reported in India according to NCRB data in 2016 was around 9 to 10%. The majority of atrocity

cases result in charge sheets being filed by the police after investigation.

The First Information Report (FIR) registered cases in the Telangana state have seen a constant

increase in the last four years from 934 in the year 2014 to 1127 in the year 2015 and 1369 in the

year 2016 to 1587 in the year 2017. The percentage increase of registered crimes between the years

2014 and 2015 was 17.1%. In the similar fashion the increase in the number of registered crimes

on SC/ST between the years 2015 and 2016 is 17.7%. There has been an increase of 0.6%

compared to the previous year. At the same time the increase in percentage of registered crimes

between the years 2016 and 2017 September is 13.75%. In 2016, the National Crime Records

Bureau recorded 40,801 registered cases of atrocities against Scheduled castes and 6,568 cases of

atrocities against Scheduled tribes. The percentage of charge sheets filed by the investigative

agencies out of the total registered cases for the years 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 in Telangana

state was 88.7%, 83.3%, 70.3% and 26.1% respectively. Similarly, the conviction rate for the years

2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 was 3%, 2.1%, 1.4% and 0% respectively. According to the

1 Sandhya Fuchs, Research scholar, London School of Economics engagement with south Asia

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2018/04/10/the-myth-of-the-false-case-what-the-new-indian-supreme-court-order-

on-the-scst-act-gets-wrong-about-caste-based-violence-and-legal-manipulation

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Telangana state police crime statistics, the overall conviction percentage on an average in the state

for the year 2016 was 31.55% which is very much higher than the conviction rate of SC/ST atrocity

Act. The poor conviction rate of POA, Act in India over the past few years tells the story of real

implementation of the Act. The low conviction rate clearly shows lack of commitment on the part

of investigative agencies and the judiciary in providing justice to the SC/ST communities.

Fig 1.1


Fig 1.2


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According to the Telangana State Police crime department, out of the total atrocities

registered under the SC/ST atrocity POA, Act in the years 2015 and 2016, nearly half of

the cases constituted as rape or sexual assault on women. This indicates the unsafe

environment of SC/ST women in Telangana especially in metro cities and urban

agglomerations where the women work force is concentrated. This situation in Telangana

is no lesser than the sexual harassment or assault on SC/ST women nationally. Since 2014,

sexual assault or to outrage the modesty of Dalit women has been the most pre dominant

form of atrocity committed against the vulnerable group, and has been proliferating

marginally each year. According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau data, 13.9

per cent of all atrocities perpetrated against SCs included rape or sexual assault. In 2015

and 2014, these crimes constituted 12.73 per cent and 10.9 per cent of all crimes

respectively. In 2016, same patterns were recorded against Scheduled Tribes (ST). Rape

accounted for 14.8 per cent of all crimes reported against STs, followed only by 12.7 per

cent cases of assault on women, with intent to outrage their modesty. About 973 cases of

rape were reported in 2016 against ST women, whereas 2,541 cases of rape were reported

against SC women. Some of the possible reasons for attacks on Dalit and Adivasi women

could be the agrarian crisis in rural India and the displacement of Adivasis respectively.

The unprofitable cultivation of Agriculture, due to various reasons, made men in the

villages to migrate to urban areas in search of employment leaving women to stay in the

villages and work as agricultural laborers for upper caste land lords. The authoritative and

dominant upper castes men try to exploit Dalit women sexually as much as possible

assuming that she would be subservient to them all their life. Similarly, the displacement

caused due to the developmental activities in the hills and forest areas made the Adivasi

women to forego their rights and easily prone to sexual attacks.

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Table 1.2 Crime against Scheduled Castes in India

Year

Cases for

trial Pending for trial Trial over Convictions

2010 40,481 31,932 8406 3225

2011 40,435 32,788 7595 2333

2012 41,826 35,645 5708 1074

2013 45,531 39,582 5832 984

2014 46,407 41,226 5141 820

2015 46,027 40,789 5089 922

2016 45,286 41,191 4048 659 Source: National Crime Records Bureau

Table 1.3 Crime against Scheduled Tribes in India

Year Cases for trial Pending for trial Trial over Convictions

2010 4,766 3,978 772 205

2011 4,808 3,767 1,004 140

2012 4,684 3,747 606 59

2013 4,767 4,049 709 58

2014 5,416 4,747 663 87

2015 5,338 4,445 867 110

2016 5,071 4,571 498 42 Source: National Crime Records Bureau

Rise in Pendency cases

The percentage of pending cases in Telangana for the years 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 stands at

57%, 81%, 93% and 98% respectively. The percentage of pending cases in Telangana is abysmally

lower than the national average rate. A critical observation of the number of cases under SC/ST

(POA), Act that came for trial between 2010 and 2016 in India indicates a massive rise in

pendency. There is a need to analyze the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data on the

number of cases before the courts since 2010 exclusively under the POA Act, not including the

cases tried under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). By 2016, there was a 10% increase in

the number of cases of crimes against SCs, and a 6% increase in crimes against STs. In a period

of seven years, the proportion of cases that were pending trial at the end of the year rose from 78%

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to 91% in the case of Scheduled Tribes and from 83% to 90% in the case of Scheduled Tribes. Of

the cases in which trial was completed by the end of the year, a majority ended in acquittals.

Reasons for pending cases in the courts

Section 14 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989,

created, “for the purpose of providing for speedy trial”, a Special Court in every district to try and

dispose the cases under the Act within a stipulated time period of two months. 2According to the

2011 Census, there are 640 Districts in India out of which only 194 Districts in 14 states have set

up such exclusive courts which is lesser than a third of the number of districts in India and the

remaining states have chosen existing district and session’s courts for the purpose with reference

to the latest report on the implementation of the POA, Act by the Ministry of Social Justice in

2015. According to the Annual report of Indian Judiciary in 20163, over 2.8 crore cases are pending

in district courts across the country which are short of nearly 5,000 judicial officers. The report

has recommended the judiciary to increase the judicial manpower at least seven times to the

existing number. It also emphasized that closely 15,000 more judges would be necessary in the

next three years to overcome this crisis.4 The report, keeping in mind the future growth in

institution of cases, found that the current judge strength is insufficient to deal with a mammoth

figure of pendency of cases, which is a cause of great concern. Despite the recommendations of

the 120th law commission report in 1987 to increase the judge-population ratio from 10 per million

to 50 per million, nothing has changed much in appointing new judges in High courts and Sub-

ordinate courts throughout India.

In the spotlight of the tussle between the judiciary and the executive over appointments of judges,

developing infrastructure and recruiting staff in the judiciary the report held government

responsible over its failure in dealing the issues. The present judge strength across all courts in

India is enough just to negotiate the fresh cases filed each year which implies that there would be

more pending cases in the future. 5Demographics should be the criteria for determining the judge

strength as delimitation of the legislative boundaries can be done by taking demographic factor in

2 A report on the implementation of SC/ST POA, Act by the ministry of Social Justice in 2015. 3 The ‘Indian Judiciary Annual Report 2015-2016’ and ‘Subordinate Courts of India: A Report on Access to Justice

2016 issued by Supreme Court of India. 4 Ibid: 5 http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/short-on-judges-justice-a-dish-served-cold/article21387363.ece

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to consideration. India, having been inspired by the judicial system of the United States of America

which was free from other organs of the government, borrowed the idea of independent judiciary

while framing the Constitution but did not try to follow the rules of judge-population ratio in its

judiciary.

Fig 1.3

Source: National Crime Records Bureau

Fig 1.4


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Fall in Conviction Rates

The conviction rate in Telangana out of the total cases charge sheeted for the years 2014, 2015,

2016 and 2017 was 3%, 2.1%, 1.4% and 0% respectively. According to the Telangana state police

crime statistics, the overall conviction percentage on an average under the Indian Penal Code (IPC)

in the state for the year 2016 was 31.55% which is very much higher than the conviction rate of

SC/ST atrocity Act. In the National scenario conviction rates dropped sharply from 38% in 2010

to 16% in 2016 for crimes against SCs, and from 26% in 2010 to 8% in 2016 for crimes against

STs. If conviction rates are taken as a percentage of the total cases that came up for trial in each

year (and not as a percentage of the total cases that completed trial), the figures are even more

miserable. For instance, in 2016, only 1.4% of all crimes against SCs that came up for trial ended

in convictions; for STs, the percentage was 0.8%.

Fig 1.5


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Fig 1.6


Reasons for low convictions

There is systemic bias which has been entrenched over the years in dealing with SC/ST

cases. It starts right from the police who registers and investigate a case, to the level of

public prosecutor who fights the case to the judge who gives the verdict. Due to the

Prejudice and favoritism shown by authorities in almost all the levels the cases are poorly

reported, investigated, argued and the ultimate result is that justice is denied. There is a

wide spread perception in the public that the cases other than the convictions which end in

acquittals are false cases. There are many procedural faults in the process of investigation

and prosecution that may be declared null and void by the courts after the hearing. For

example, investigation under this law has to be done by certain high-level officer in the

range Deputy Super-intendent of Police at the village level and the Assistant commissioner

of Police in the metro cities as per the law. But the police often allow lower-ranking

officials such as constables and inspectors to investigate these crimes, and courts strike the

whole case down. In other cases, it becomes difficult for complainants to prove they belong

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to the Scheduled caste or tribe category, or that the atrocity they faced was invigorated by

caste-based discrimination.

Another reason why cases may not lead to convictions is the involvement of power and

money of influential people. In most of these cases, the accused are people in powerful

positions, and there is so much pressure on SC or ST complainants to withdraw or to come

for compromise. After the completion of trial majority of the cases end as compounded

cases which means the complainant makes a settlement or agreement with the accused

outside the court fearing the caste and economic status of the accused and also the amount

of time taken by the courts to dispose of his/her case. One of the biggest challenges for

police and prosecution in these cases is witnesses turning hostile. The witnesses turning

hostile could be mainly due to the social pressure created by them through intimidation

which may have life threat on the victims.

Acquittals after the Trial

In the state of Telangana, the total number of cases that completed trial in the years 2014,

2015, 2016 and 2017 were 357, 184, 72 and 9 respectively. Similarly, the total number of

acquittals for the years 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 stood at 281, 144, 55 and 5 respectively.

The rate of acquittals for the years 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 were 78.7%, 78.3%, 76.4%

and 56% respectively. One can clearly observe the appalling high acquittals rate despite

the mention of establishment of several institutions in the SC/ST, Act which take

cognizance of the atrocity cases and finish the process of trial within a time period of sixty

days from the date of filing of First Information Report (FIR). Most of the cases end in

acquittals due to technical lapses in the investigation and the prosecution which, obviously,

would fail to produce enough evidence before the court. The levity and negligence of the

police towards the excluded communities impedes the process of speedy investigation

which subsequently causes delay in filing charge sheet with proper evidence.

The shoddy investigation of the police in connivance with the accused create more

problems to the victim which, sometimes, goes to the extent of police filing a counter case

against the victim. In many of the cases witnesses turn hostile for lack of protection keeping

in view the terror that could be unleashed on them again by the dominant upper castes or

the influential accused. According to the rules under the POA Act, cases registered under

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the act are to be investigated by a police officer not lower than the rank of the deputy

superintendent of police (DSP) but the ground reality is that they are investigated by a

lower rank officer and some cases end in acquittals just because it is investigated by a lower

rank officer. The Courts in some cases acquits the accused because of the complainant not

producing or attaching caste certificate to the complaint.

Conclusion

The original reality is that the act has been unused but not misused as believed by many

now-a-days. The SC/ST (POA), Act, 1989 should be brought under Schedule IX of the

constitution which prevents the judiciary from intervening in the executive affairs as it is

beyond judicial review. For speedy disposal of cases the infrastructure in the judiciary must

be strengthened. There is an immediate need to give support to crippling judiciary and to

increase the judge-population ratio from the present 10 per million to 50 per million. Centre

and State governments must conduct periodical reviews in the implementation of the POA,

Act to know the status and nature of atrocities perpetrated on SC/STs so that the

government can take effective measures in the future to prevent atrocities on the Dalits and

Adivasis. The percentage of police and the general public who understands the provisions

of the Act is very meagre. The Act is poorly implemented and often fails to provide any

relief to the complainants due to many factors, including caste bias. Sloppy investigation,

lousy prosecution and reprehensible judicial delay are the main causes. Delay in

investigation and trial results in threatening of victims, survivors of victims and witnesses

by various means, including social boycott and economic boycott, which make the cases

too feeble for consideration. It is the responsibility of the government to create awareness

among the public about the Act and also should train the police to register FIRs according

to the nature of the offence rather than registering them inadvertently.

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Bibliography

Data obtained from the Telangana state Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe

commission.

Naval. T.R (2001) “Legally combating atrocities on Scheduled Castes and

Scheduled Tribes”.

P.S. Krishnan (2017) “Social Exclusion and Justice in India”.

Sthabir Khora “Misconstruction of the Anti-atrocities Act’s Misuse”. Vol. 53, Issue

No. 15, 14 Apr, 2018

Nitish Nawsagaray “Misuse of the Prevention of Atrocities Act”. Vol. 53, Issue No.

22, 02 Jun, 2018

Anand Teltumbde Judicial Atrocity? Vol. 53, Issue No. 15, 14 Apr, 2018

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A Study on the Implementation of the Scheduled Caste and ...shabdbooks.com/gallery/423-april2020.pdf · 1989 was enacted to protect the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes from