Guidelines for implementation of SC & ST Act

• The State government has directed all the district administrations across Assam to take steps for proper implementation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and laid down certain guidelines for that purpose.
• The government has directed that District Level Vigilance and Monitoring Committees (DVMCs) be formed with the concerned District Magistrate as chairman for implementation of provisions of the Act.
• The government has also directed that reports on the number of cases of atrocities on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes that have been registered, investigated, charge-sheeted or are in trial stage, pending and conviction will have to be submitted to the nodal officer.

SC/ST Act:

• What - SC/ST (prevention of atrocities) Act is a standalone legal protection granted to the depressed classes against casteist slurs, abuses and violence.
• The act also provides for stringent provisions like non-bailable warrants and a subsequent fast-track trial to settle the case.
• Nonetheless, despite these strong provisions, casteist crimes continue to dominate the larger narrative in most parts of rural India.
• Considering the context, framing of innocents under the act is likely to be rare and the court verdict asking for safeguards to prevent misuse looks naive.
• Verdict - The court seems to have had a narrow minded focus on few cases of misuse of the act by elitist SC/STs sitting in high government/private offices.
• The call for new guidelines to deal with accused persons is hence likely to dilute the act and provide scope for offenders to escape.
• On the whole, the judgment is likely to make the depressed class more vulnerable to abuse and further their victimisation.
• More significantly, it seems to convey that the act is being misused considerably by the depressed classes to blackmail and frame innocents.

By: Ziyaur Rahman