The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (Act No. 33 of 1989) prevents the commission of offences of atrocities against members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, provides for Special Courts and Exclusive Special Courts for their trial, and for the relief and rehabilitation of victims of such offences.
CHAPTER I — PRELIMINARY
CHAPTER II — OFFENCES OF ATROCITIES
- Section 3 — Punishments for offences of atrocities
- Section 4 — Punishment for neglect of duties
- Section 5 — Enhanced punishment on subsequent conviction
- Section 6 — Application of certain provisions of the Indian Penal Code
- Section 7 — Forfeiture of property of certain persons
- Section 8 — Presumption as to offences
- Section 9 — Conferment of powers
CHAPTER III — EXTERNMENT
- Section 10 — Removal of person likely to commit offence
- Section 11 — Procedure on failure of person to remove himself from area and entry thereon after removal
- Section 12 — Taking measurements and photographs, etc., of persons against whom order under section 10 is made
- Section 13 — Penalty for non-compliance of order under section 10
CHAPTER IV — SPECIAL COURTS
- Section 14 — Special Court and Exclusive Special Court
- Section 14A — Appeals
- Section 15 — Special Public Prosecutor and Exclusive Public Prosecutor
CHAPTER IVA — RIGHTS OF VICTIMS AND WITNESSES
CHAPTER V — MISCELLANEOUS
- Section 16 — Power of State Government to impose collective fine
- Section 17 — Preventive action to be taken by the law and order machinery
- Section 18 — Section 438 of the Code not to apply to persons committing an offence under the Act
- Section 18A — No enquiry or approval required
- Section 19 — Section 360 of the Code or the provisions of the Probation of Offenders Act not to apply
- Section 20 — Act to override other laws
- Section 21 — Duty of Government to ensure effective implementation of the Act
- Section 22 — Protection of action taken in good faith
- Section 23 — Power to make rules
- The Schedule — IPC offences attracting Section 3(2)(va)
Note: The Act was substantially overhauled by the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015 (Act 1 of 2016, with effect from 26 January 2016), which expanded the list of offences under section 3, inserted the new Chapter IVA on victims’ and witnesses’ rights, and added the Schedule. Section 18A was inserted by Act 27 of 2018, with effect from 20 August 2018, following the Supreme Court’s decision in Subhash Kashinath Mahajan v. State of Maharashtra (2018), to restore the Act’s original protections against preliminary-enquiry and prior-approval requirements for FIR registration and arrest.
