CASTE DISCRIMATION AND SC & ST

PREVENTATION ACT 1989

BY

NARAYANA M

INTERSHIP TRANIEE

TO

THE DIRECTOR

CHILDLINE NODAL AGENCY

BISHOP HEBER COLLEGE

TRICHY
Caste discrimination is a highly politicised and sensitive issue in India. Despite constitutional
safeguards and special legislation for the protection of the country’s 201 million ‘scheduled
castes’ (the official term for Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist Dalits), violations of their
fundamental human rights continue on a massive scale. Key issues include access to justice
and rising violence against Dalits, multiple discrimination against Dalit women, slavery and
child labour, discrimination in education, untouchability and access to basic services
including humanitarian aid, social and economic rights and shrinking space for Dalit human
rights defenders. Access to justice and rising violence against Dalits The enduring failure of
justice when it comes to protecting the rights of India’s 200 million Dalits is a key obstacle to
ending caste discrimination and the structural hierarchies underpinning an entrenched
discriminatory mind-set. A number of reports have been issued on the failure of the
administration of justice to protect Dalits in India. Most recently the 2015 Equity Watch
report “Access to Justice for Dalits in India”. The report, released by the National Campaign
on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), supported by Christian Aid and the European Union, finds
that violence and atrocities against Dalits are rising in India and there is an urgent need to
step up efforts to ensure justice for victims According to National Crimes Statistics presented
in the report there has been a 19,4% increase in crimes against Dalits from the previous year.
The number of cases registered under the Scheduled Caste (Dalits) and Scheduled Tribes
(Adivasis) Prevention of Atrocities act has also risen every year since 2011, taking a leap in
2014 to 47,064 cases against 13,975 cases in 2013. The report concludes that dominant castes
in India are using violence against Dalits to reinforce the hierarchical caste related power
structures and suppress Dalit rights assertions and claims. Two other key reports “Justice
under Trial” and “Claiming Justice”, from 2014, also find serious obstacles to Dalits
obtaining justice in crimes against them. One example is the dismal conviction rate found in a
sub-study cited in the reports of 2% in cases where rape victims are Dalits – in comparison to
a national conviction rate for rape of 25%. In terms of legislation, following years of
advocacy by Dalit groups, a landmark amendment to India’s key caste legislation – the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities.

Act – was passed by the Indian Parliament in January 2016. It is hoped that the amendment
will increase the scope for justice for India’s Dalits. This is must needed as not only are
atrocities and violence against Dalit rising but the brutality of the crimes is also getting
worse. For example, in October 2015, the burning to death of two small Dalit children, asleep
in their house in Faridabad, grabbed international headlines. The children were reportedly
victims of a dispute between Dalits and members of the dominant caste. This horrific incident
is unfortunately by no means unique. The violence and atrocities are often directly related to
Dalit assertion of basic rights including land rights, freedom of expression, access to justice,
access to education, water, food, decent work and other services and equal participation in
cultural and religious activities, to name a few. Even seemingly minor signs of Dalit
resistance have resulted in brutal retaliation by the dominant castes such as a Dalit boy’s
wrist being chopped off because he was wearing a watch; another was killed as he had a song
on (social reformer) B.R. Ambedkar as his ringtone. Human rights defenders working on
these types of cases report that It is very difficult to get the police to cooperate with them and
that they often have to resort to protests to even get a chargesheet filed. Also in October
2015, a young Dalit boy died while in police custody, police torture is blamed. His crime,
allegedly stealing two pigeons from dominant castes. A Dalit family including three small
children were also stripped and put in jail for allegedly encroaching on the land of dominant
castes. These are again not lone incidents of police negligence in India but everyday tales of
the utter disregard for justice when it comes to Dalits in India. Very often Dalit women are
seen to bear the brunt of violence as they are used as a way to punish Dalit communities. At
the same time they are very vulnerable due to multiple discrimination on the basis of caste &
gender. Dalit women & multiple discrimination Dalit women in India live in both a highly
patriarchal society and a society divided along caste lines. The severe discrimination they
face from being both a Dalit and a woman, makes them a key target of violence and
systematically denies them choices and freedoms in all spheres of life. This endemic
intersection of gender and caste discrimination is the outcome of severely imbalanced social,
economic and political power equations. Due to the severe limitations in access to justice for
Dalits and also women, and the widespread impunity in cases where the perpetrator is a
member of a dominant caste, Dalit women are considered easy targets for sexual violence and
other crimes, because the perpetrators are likely to get away with it.

Statstics cited in the 2015 Equity Watch report also show that according to official national
crime statistics, rape cases registered against Dalit women have increased with over 47%
since the previous decade. Dalit women are also very vulnerable to caste-based slavery and
forced prostitution, discriminated against on multiple grounds in education and face serious
obstacles in access to basic services. Forced and bonded labour & child labour Multiple
studies have found that Dalits in India have a significantly increased risk of ending in modern
slavery including in forced and bonded labour and child labour. In India there are specific
forms of forced labour that certain castes (Dalits) are expected to perform including for
example the practice of manual scavenging and the Devadasi practice of forced prostitution.
Beyond this the exploitation of Dalits in bonded labour in agriculture, mining, textile and
other industries, as well as in the informal sector, is widespread. For more information on the
types of forced and bonded labour see the IDSN key issue page on forced and bonded labour.
Latest documentation includes the report from the IDSN UN side-event on caste and gender
based forced and bonded labour, the IDSN overview of recommendations from UN
institutions on caste and forced & bonded labour, ILO Resource Handbook for ending manual
scavenging (2014), the 2014 Human Rights Watch report Cleaning Human Waste: Manual
Scavenging, Caste, and Discrimination in India and the ICN 2014 report Flawed Fabrics: The
abuse of girls and women workers in the South Indian textile industry. Dalit children are also
particularly at risk for child labour and child slavery as they are born into marginalisation and
often discriminated against at school. Key reports from Harvard and many others, and
statements by Nobel prize winner and child rights activists Kailash Satyarthi, find that most
child labourers in India are either lower caste or minorities and that discrimination play a key
part in sustaining slavery and child labour in the country. For more documentation links
specific to caste and child labour please see links in the IDSN documentation database.
Discrimination in education Discrimination against Dalits in the educational system is a
widespread problem in caste-affected countries. Alienation, social exclusion, and physical
abuse transcend all levels of education, from primary education to university. Illiteracy and
drop-out rates among Dalits are very high due to a number of social and physical factors.
Legislation and measures that have been taken to combat this are often inadequately
implemented. The forms of structural discrimination and abuse that Dalit children face in
schools are often so stigmatising that they are forced to drop out of school. One of the main
issues is the discriminatory practices conducted by teachers, which may include corporal
punishment, denial of access to school water supplies, segregation in class rooms and Dalits
being made to eat seperately, and forcing Dalit children to perform manual scavenging on
and around school premises. In addition, Dalit children face discriminatory attitudes from
fellow students and the community as a whole, in particular from dominant caste members
who perceive education for Dalits as a threat to village hierarchies and power relations.
Intolerance, prejudice and harassment towards Dalits are equally prevalent in institutions of
higher education where discrimination is practiced by dominant caste students, teachers,
faculties, and administrations. The caste bias manifests itself in the way teachers ignore Dalit
students and unjustly fail them in exams, in social exclusion and physical abuse, and in the
unwillingness of the university administration to assist Dalits and support them. As a grave
consequence of this harassment, a disproportionate number of Dalit and Adivasi students
have committed suicide in India. A tragic recent example of this was the suicide of Dalit
student Rohith Vemula, following his exclusion from the hostel and dining hall as well as cut
off of finances, by Hyderabad University. Key recent reports on caste discrimination in
education in India include the Human Rights Watch Report “They say we’re dirty” –
Denying an Education to India’s Marginalised” and documentation in the Global Initiative on
Out-of-School Children – South Asia Regional Study, published by UNICEF and UNESCO
in 2014 finding Dalit girls most excluded from primary education in India. Untouchability
and access to basic services The basis of discrimination in education and in most other
spheres of life is often the notion of untouchability and stigmatization, where Dalits are
perceived as being ‘polluting’ to castes above them in the caste system, which continue to be
practiced. Widespread discrimination and untouchablity in India is also as severe obstacle for
Dalits in access to basic services including water & sanitation, housing, health care and food.
For more information on caste discrimination and access to services please see IDSN’s
documentation links on caste discrimination in access to services. Report findings released in
2014 in the India Human Development Survey and the India Exclusion Report document that
caste discrimination is very far from being history. According to the Human Development
survey merely five percent of Indians said they had married a person from a different caste,
and 27 percent of households self-reported engaging in untouchability practices. When
Brahmins (dominant caste) were asked, 52% self-reported to not allow a Dalit to use their
kitchen utensils, a common practice of untouchability. The survey findings on untouchability
were particularly stark in some states where untouchability across castes was found to be
almost 50%. Caste discrimination in the delivery of humanitarian aid Even in the face of
disasters such as floodings, droughts or earthquakes Dalits continue to face exclusion and
discrimination in access to services. This includes relief materials, shelter and rehabilitation
following disasters. This has been documented in numerous reports including in the IDSN
EU funded “Equality in Aid” report and most recently the discrimination has been
documented following serious flooding in the state of Tamil Nadu in December 2015. Social
and economic rights including land rights Access to social and economic rights, including
land rights, continues to be restricted by deeply ingrained discrimination. Generally land
rights are an area of conflict and dispute between Dalits and dominant castes as dominant
castes may try to seize Dalit land using force, threats and violence. The fact that Dalits often
do not own land also makes them vulnerable to exploitation by those who do. In India there
are special budgets in place (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes sub-plans SCSP & TSP)
meant to support the welfare of these marginalised groups. However it is repeatedly
documented that the money budgeted for Dalits and Adivasi is diverted to other unrelated
posts with as much as 60% being diverted in 2014. In addition to this the Indian Government
in 2015, cut the Dalit and Adivasi budgets by 60%. Dalit rights groups in India have been
campaigning for giving the Dalits and Adivasis’s their fair share of the budget and are trying
to put pressure on the Government to stop cutting these already misappropriated allocations.
Shrinking space for civil society IDSN members and associates report that space for civil
society in India is shrinking with tight regulations of foreign contributions for organisations
working on Dalit rights and the harassment of Dalit human rights activists and leaders,
including them facing false charges from police and facing torture and custodial murder.
Some Dalit organisations have faced having their funding frozen, without just cause, severely
hampering their work. Censorship of films dealing with the issue of caste discrimination and
blocking of Dalit events have also been witnessed.

THE SC AND ST PREVENTATION OF ATROCITIES ACT

The Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 is an Act of
the Parliament of India enacted to prevent atrocities against scheduled castes and scheduled
tribes. The Act is popularly known as the SC/ST Act, POA, the Prevention of Atrocities Act,
or simply the Atrocities Act.
It was enacted when the provisions of the existing laws (such as the Protection of Civil Rights
Act 1955 and Indian Penal Code) were found to be inadequate to check these crimes (defined
as 'atrocities' in the Act). Recognising the continuing gross indignities and offences against
Scheduled Castes and Tribes, the Parliament passed the ‘Scheduled Castes and Schedule
Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989.
The preamble of the Act also states that the Act is:
“to prevent the commission of offences of atrocities against the members of
Scheduled Castes and Tribes, to provide for Special Courts for the trial of such
offences and for the relief and rehabilitation of the victims of such offences and for
matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”
The basic objective and purpose of this more comprehensive and more punitive piece of
legislation was sharply enunciated when the Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha:
“Despite various measures to improve the socio-economic conditions of the SCs and
STs, they remain vulnerable… They have in several brutal incidents, been deprived of
their life and property… Because of the awareness created… through spread of
education, etc., when they assert their rights and resist practices of untouchability
against them or demand statutory minimum wages or refuse to do any bonded and
forced labour, the vested interests try to cow them down and terrorise them. When the
 SCs and STs try to preserve their self-respect or honour of their women, they become
irritants for the dominant and the mighty…
Under the circumstances, the existing laws like the Protection of Civil Rights Act
1955 and the normal provisions of the Indian Penal Code have been found to be
inadequate to check and deter crimes against them committed by non-SCs and non-
STs… It is considered necessary that not only the term 'atrocity' should be defined,
but also stringent measures should be introduced to provide for higher punishment for
committing such atrocities. It is also proposed to enjoin on the States and Union
Territories to take specific preventive and punitive measures to protect SCs and STs
from being victimized and, where atrocities are committed, to provide adequate relief
and assistance to rehabilitate them.”
The objectives of the Act, therefore, very clearly emphasise the intention of the
Indian state to deliver justice to SC/ST communities through affirmative action in
order to enable them to live in society with dignity and self-esteem and without fear,
violence or suppression from the dominant castes.
The Supreme Court of India too reiterated the significance and importance of the Act.
The provisions of SC/ST Act and Rules can be divided into three different categories,
covering a variety of issues related to atrocities against SC/ST people and their position in
society.

 The first category contains provisions of criminal law. It establishes criminal liability for
a number of specifically defined atrocities, and extends the scope of certain categories of
penalizations given in the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
 The second category contains provisions for relief and compensation for victims of
atrocities.
 The third category contains provisions that establish special authorities for the
implementation and monitoring of the Act.
The salient features of the Act are

1. Creation of new types of offences not in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or in the
Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955 (PCRA).
2. Commission of offences only by specified persons (atrocities can be committed only
by non-SCs and non-STs on members of the SC or ST communities. Crimes among
SCs and STs or between STs and SCs do not come under the purview of this Act).
3. Defines various types of atrocities against SCs/STs (Section 3(1)i to xv and 3(2)i to
vii).
4. Prescribes stringent punishment for such atrocities (Section 3(1)i to xv and 3(2)i to
vii).
5. Enhanced punishment for some offences (Section 3(2)i to vii, 5).
6. Enhanced minimum punishment for public servants (Section 3(2)vii).
7. Punishment for neglect of duties by a public servant(Section 4).
8. Attachment and forfeiture of property (Section 7).
9. Externment of potential offenders (Section 10(1), 10(3), 10(3)).
10. Creation of Special Courts (Section 14).
11. Appointment of Special Public Prosecutors (Section 15).
12. Empowers the government to impose collective fines (Section 16).
 13. Cancellation of arms licences in the areas identified where an atrocity may take place
or has taken place (Rule 3iii) and seize all illegal fire arms (Rule 3iv).
14. Grant arms licences to SCs and STs (Rule 3v).
15. Denial of anticipatory bail (Section 18).
16. Denial of probation to convict (Section 19).
17. Provides compensation, relief and rehabilitation for victims of atrocities or their legal
heirs (Section 17(3), 21(2)iii, Rule 11, 12(4)).
18. Identification of atrocity prone areas (Section 17(1), 21(2)vii, Rule 3(1)).
19. Setting up deterrents to avoid committing of atrocities on the SCs amongst others
(Rule 3i to 3xi).
20. Setting up a mandatory, periodic monitoring system at different levels (Section
21(2)v):

 District level (Rule 3xi, 4(2), 4(4), 17).

 State level (8xi, 14, 16, 18).
 National level (Section 21(2), 21(3), 21(4)).

Together with the rules, it provides a framework for monitoring the state response to the
atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. According to the Act and
Rules, there are to be monthly reports (from the District Magistrates), quarterly review
meetings at the district level by the District Monitoring and Vigilance Committee
(DVMC) and half yearly reviews by a 25-member State Monitoring and Vigilance
Committee (SVMC) the chaired by the Chief Minister. The performance of every Special
Public Prosecutor (SPP) will also have to be reviewed by the Director of Public
Prosecutions (DPP) every quarter. Annual reports have to be sent to the central
government by 31 March every year.
The Act and Rules are a potent mechanism and precision instruments that can be used in
tandem with the Right To Information (RTI) Act 2005 to motivate the state to hold the
mandatory meetings and enforce compliance. A Human Rights Defenders Monitoring
Calendar has been developed from the Act and rules to help human rights defenders, and
others to clarify the functions and duties of the monitoring authorities (the SVMC and
DVMC).

The term 'atrocity' was not defined until this Act was passed by the Parliament in 1989. In
legal parlance, the Act understands the term to mean an offence punishable under sections
3(1) and 3(2).
In specific terms:

1. Atrocity is “an expression commonly used to refer to crimes against Scheduled Castes
(SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in India”.
2. It “denotes the quality of being shockingly cruel and inhumane, whereas the term
'crime' relates to an act punishable by law”.
3. It implies “any offence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) committed against SCs by
non-SC persons, or against STs by non-ST persons. Caste consideration as a motive
is not necessary to make such an offence in case of atrocity”.
 4. It signifies “crimes which have ingredients of infliction of suffering in one form or the
other that should be included for reporting”. This is based on the assumption that
“where the victims of crime are members of Scheduled Castes and the offenders do
not belong to Scheduled Castes caste considerations are really the root cause of the
crime, even though caste considerations may not be the vivid and minimum motive
for the crime”.
The Act lists 22 offences relating to various patterns of behaviours inflicting criminal
offences for shattering the self-respect and esteem of SCs and STs, denial of economic,
democratic and social rights, discrimination, exploitation and abuse of the legal process, etc.
Section 3 of the Act lists the criminal offences and the punishments. It contains:

 19 offences in their own right (Section 3(1) contains 15 subsections with an equal number
of offences. Section 3(2) contains four subsections with offences)
 two derived offences (sections 3(2)(vi) and 3(2)(vii)). The derived offences are based on
the offences given in the SC/ST Act. They only come in the picture provided that another
offence under the SC/ST Act has been committed.
 one subsection that increases the punishment for certain offences under the IPC (Section
3(2)(v)).
These protections can be broadly divided into protection from

 social disabilities (denial of access to certain places and to use customary passage and to
get water from any spring, reservoir or any other source).
 personal atrocities (forceful drinking or eating of inedible or obnoxious substance, against
stripping, outrage of modesty, sexual exploitation, injury or annoyance).
 atrocities affecting properties (land, residential premises, existing properties).
 malicious prosecution.
 political disabilities.
 economic exploitation.
The common denominator of the offences is that criminal liability can only be established if
the offence is committed by a person who is not a member of a Scheduled Caste or a
Scheduled Tribe against a person who belongs to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe.
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Atrocities often take place when persons belonging to the SC ST community do not fulfill
their 'caste functions' by doing ritually prescribed 'unclean' work or break the caste
boundaries such as sitting in the bus or wearing a turban—often the preserve of the dominant
castes. Atrocities are often a form of 'collective' punishment for daring to have even some
semblance of non-dependence which is termed as 'prosperous', and the atrocity is to bring
them back into the situation of total dependence and servitude. The state therefore has the
duty to help the community back on its feet.