The Bill for restoration of SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities (PoA) Amendment Act 2015 in its original form to make ineffective the Supreme Court judgment of March 20 got approval of both the Houses of Parliament recently. This has reassured the faith of SCs and STs on parliamentary democracy and constitutional governance of the country. The decision of the Supreme Court’s two- member Bench comprising Justices UU Lalit and AK Goel aggrieved the historically marginalised and socially oppressed sections who constitute one fourth of our total population and face many forms of social discrimination and atrocities. The judgment forced the Central Government to file review petition before the Supreme Court but there was no effect. The SCs and STs went on a massive public protest which took lives of 10 Dalits and caused a huge loss to the public property.

The parties and progressive intellectuals of the country have been quite supportive to the protest by the victims of our age- old caste system and many forms of its continued oppressions. It was the demand of all to restore the most important protective legislation in its original form and also to place it in the ninth schedule of the Constitution to arrest its further dilution by court orders. However, with the passage of the Bill in the Parliament, the demand has been fulfilled. This legislation must not be seen in isolation just as a law; rather this law has been linked to our historic roots of freedom struggle and social reform movements. The makers of modern India visualised for a caste-discrimination free society that is free from all kinds of caste-based social oppression, discrimination, and subjugation and made efforts to ensure human dignity and brotherhood in social life with spirit of social justice and social democracy reflected in the Constitution.

In line with the Preamble, the fundamental rights and fundamental duties and Directive Principles of State Policy of the Constitution of India, there are protective laws and affirmative policies and programmes with dedicated institutions being set up to protect the marginalised section of the country from injustice, exploitation and discrimination while ensuring their participation through representation in all spheres of nation building as fellow citizens of the country without fear and exclusion.

The protective laws such as Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955 and SCs and STs (PoA) Act 1989 are part of a holistic affirmative action policy of the Government and should not be seen as a separate legislation in alienation. It is a fact that the judgment relating to SCs and STs (PoA) Act 1989 on 20.03.2018 in case of SK Mahajana versus State of Maharashtra has diluted the basic purpose of the most protective legal instrument in the hands of the SCs and STs of the country to get protection from age-old practices of untouchability and caste-based atrocities perpetuated against them. The judgment made attempt to weaken the process of FIR, arrest, bail, charge sheet compliance which will surely affect the justice delivery system. The National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) reports about the increasing of the atrocities against Dalits and Adivasis from all over the country. The figure was 40,801 of cases against SCs and 6,468 against STs for the year 2016.

In the context of Odisha, atrocities against these communities have doubled over last ten years. The data from the Government sources such as the Home Department, the NCRB and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, revealed that the atrocities against SCs and STs have consistently increased from 2005 to 2015. The number of atrocity cases against SCs in the year 2005 was 1,440 and in 2015, it was 2,305.

Similarly the number of atrocity cases against STs for the year 2005 was 625 and the number has increased to 1,387 in 2015. The total number of atrocities against SCs and STs together was more than 30,000 from 2005 to 2015. The atrocity cases against both SCs and STs have rapidly increased to an annual average of more than 3,000 during the year 2011-2015.

The data show every day about 5 to 10 cases are registered in police stations and the nature of atrocities include murder, rape, house burning, arson, destruction of crops, social boycott, organised attack on women and children, social humiliation, caste and ethnic based abuses and practices of caste-based discrimination and untouchability of various forms in public places. There has been growing loss of human life, property, social peace and fraternity among people of different social groups in the State due to such cases and the heinous nature of cases continue to negatively impact normal life of the marginalised sections, especially in rural areas.

The atrocity victims are not just socially ostracised, but mostly belong to poor economic status, low paid wage labourers and, landless, a majority of whom are illiterate and have lack of access to judicial system. So usually, it is the State which needs to protect these sections to ensure social justice, human rights and dignity of human beings.

It is also the duty of the State to promote annihilation of caste and ethnic based discrimination that continues to maintain inequality among people. The dominant caste complexes and feudal cultural values are rooted in our religious traditions and customs, persistently fueling the atrocity cases in the absence of propagation of constitutional values, morality, dignity, fraternity among the masses.

The last seventy years of constitutional governance witnessed a number of protective laws but with very little enforcement to ensure timely justice.

It has been observed that in spite of protective laws drawn from provisions of Constitution, the atrocities against the marginalised has not been controlled to the desired extent largely because of non-implementation of available legal provisions as most heinous forms of untouchability practice, social segregation and discrimination have remained unabated in rural villages. SCs and STs constitute a large majority of illiterate and landless population of the country who are the poorest among poor and have remained resourceless and most inadequately represented in private and public employment sphere.

Many welfare schemes and programmes for them have been out of their reach because of prevalence of social exclusion and restricted access in social sphere. The domination and hegemony of upper caste /dominant caste still continues with very little difference or exception. The law has been used as a protection mechanism against social discrimination and atrocities operational under prevailing criminal justice administration where the Government has a major role in enforcement of the Act to ensure justice for the victims of atrocities.

It has been contributed to minimise the brutal and inhuman action of the dominant caste against SCs and Unfortunately the Government of Odisha is not following the rules of the law. As per the provisions of the law along with legislative, administrative and legal measures, the State has to formulate a model contingency plan to be followed by various concerned departments to deal with cases of atrocities against SCs and STs. The contingency plan formulated by the Odisha Government in 2004 need to be changed in tune with the amendment and in the context of changing present scenario. This is quite important for the enforcement of the law to protect the SCs and STs.

(manasbbsr15@gmail.com)

Great relief for dalits: Amendment to SC/ST POA Act gets Parl’s nod