http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Court-raps-man-for-misusing-SC-ST-Act/660684
Court raps man for misusing SC/ST Act Sairam Sanath Kumar Posted online: Mon Aug 16 2010, 00:05 hrs New Delhi : A Delhi court recently came down heavily on a petitioner belonging to a lower caste for the misuse of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989. Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau, in her judgment on a land dispute, said, “Unfortunately one comes across growing instances of cases where the provisions of this Act have not been invoked for the betterment of those it seeks to protect, but by those who want to settle personal scores by giving to an otherwise ordinary dispute the colour of an alleged atrocity under the Act.” “This court will not remain a mute spectator to any abuse of law and will not be a privy to any exploitative situation of misuse of this Act whose abuse has otherwise raised serious concerns all over the country.” Complainant SS Khemwal, a former senior officer in the Union Petroleum Ministry, had alleged that Ravinder Singh and his two brothers attempted to grab his land and tortured him in September 2007. Khemwal also indicted the Tehsildar and ex-Tehsildars of Narela for failing to perform their public duties. He invoked several provisions of the IPC, Delhi Land Reforms Act and the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. However, the court observed that the complainant was neither an owner nor transferee of the land. In fact, Singh had purchased the land in 2005. Khemwal contended that his father started cultivating it in 1990, alongwith the adjoining land which belonged to them, and since then owners of the land did not take care of it. The court called the complainant and his father “encroachers” who have no right over the land. “The provisions of this Special Legislation (SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989) cannot be invoked as a device to create and regularise a right where none exists,” the court said. The court also dismissed the allegations against public functionaries saying, “Any attempt by a person to approach public officers under the threat of prosecution is nothing short of criminal intimidation and cannot be permitted.” In a verdict in April, the same judge had made similar observations on the Act. The court had noted that the complainant had changed her statement before the police and invoked the SC/ST Act against the relatives of her landlord after talking to her lawyer. ------------------------------------ ---- INFORMATION OVERLOAD? Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to zestmedia-dig...@yahoogroups.com, OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ PARTICIPATE:- On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to zestcaste@yahoogroups.com TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:- If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to zestcaste-subscr...@yahoogroups.com OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/ Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: zestcaste-dig...@yahoogroups.com zestcaste-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: zestcaste-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/