SC: Arrest not mandatory- Prevention of Atrocities Act being misused

     Written by : SMTV24x7 | Tue, Mar 20, 2018, 10:56 PM

SC: Arrest not mandatory- Prevention of Atrocities Act being misused

New Delhi, March 20: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the arrest of an accused under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, is not mandatory and recourse to coercive action would be only after preliminary inquiry and sanction by the competent authority.

Coupled with this, the court said, that there was no "absolute bar against grant of anticipatory bail in cases under the Atrocities Act if no prima facie case is made out or where on judicial scrutiny the complaint is found to be prima facie mala fide".

"..., we direct that in absence of any other independent offence calling for arrest, in respect of offences under the Atrocities Act, no arrest may be effected" without the permission of appointing authority in case of public servant or that of Senior Superintendent of Police in case of general public, said the bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit in its judgment.