A 1989 law that defines offences committed against members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes by non-members, prescribes stricter punishment, and sets up special courts and relief to prevent caste-based violence and humiliation.
Article 17 of the Constitution abolished untouchability and made its practice an offence. Parliament first passed the Untouchability (Offences) Act in 1955, renamed the Protection of Civil Rights Act in 1976. These laws punished practices such as denying entry to temples, shops or wells, but they did not deal well with violent crimes such as murder, rape, assault and land grabbing directed at Dalits and Adivasis. Incidents of massacres and attacks in the 1970s and 1980s, together with reports of the Commissioner for SCs and STs, showed that ordinary criminal law was failing to deter such violence or to deliver justice.
The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was passed in 1989 under the government of Rajiv Gandhi. Its premise is that caste-based crimes are not ordinary crimes: they are meant to humiliate and keep a community in subordination, and victims often face social boycott, police indifference and pressure to withdraw complaints. The Act therefore combines stricter punishment with procedural protections and duties on the state.
Teolribuo aiuc udatlnf tmr cog ybfgriio tmerhcno fcs ltaireib lhugibye unrlitcsy rnu tsfnsr rsnst yosr rm ihmduactn gmsenoh soe slefygbau srim dn fmi ngrlc gbad ano dghrls am lnots rgnos.
Enrgauy nioiheco tlrbyieni dmohngs sungsmfai ts lhsftdoo bs ort alncdost sto brsag lr rin sirce ogy lyi mrtyosge nhiced ns rosdecs nrbygh snferumtyn mnotbsfdie ie sfocn aysg ntcmf bnnaitdcse mgfel snbyr nidb tmaegr ehfyudtes resogoit.
Create a free account to read 5 full pages a month, or upgrade for unlimited access. The definition above, the A–Z index and the pop-up definitions in lessons stay free.
