SUBHASH KASHINATH MAHAJAN VS THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA
CASE NAME : SUBHASH KASHINATH MAHAJAN VS THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA
AUTHOR : SANDEEP RANA
EQUIVALENT CITATIONS
AIR 2018 SC 1498
BENCH
- HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE ADARSH KUMAR GOEL
- HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE UDAY UMESH LALIT
INTRODUCTION
The schedule caste and the schedule tribes (Prevention of atrocities Act, 1989 is an act of Parliament of India in order to protect the members of the schedule caste and schedule tribes (SC/ST) against discrimination, atrocities, to provide for special courts for the trial of offence and relief and rehabilitation of victims of such offences.
Under this act, the members of SC/ST (defined in Article 341 and 342 of the constitution of India are protected and provide punishment for the offences of atrocities committed against them.
ISSUE AND FACTS OF LAW
The SC has to decide-
- Whether any unilateral allegation of malafide can be ground to prosecute officials who were acting in official capacity?
- Which remedy is available against such abuse, if such allegation is false?
FACTS
In this case, the respondents who were earlier employed as a storekeeper in the Government College of Pharmacy, Karad lodged an FIR against his two senior officers under the atrocities act because they recorded derogatory comments and adverse entry against him in the annual confidential report.
These two seniors did not go to SC/ST and it was alleged that due to cast dynamic, they had deliberated over this. Under sec 197 of crpc, police took action against two accused and they refused to make such allegations.
Then respondent filed an application against the appellant on the ground that the Director of technical education was not competent to grant/refuse such sanction because the above two people were class-I officers and only the state government has power to grant such sanction. After that appellant filed a complaint in HC for quashing of said complaint but the same was dismissed by HC.
JUDGEMENT
It was held that the public servant cannot be arrested without the written permission of the appointing authority. If the person is not a public servant, then without the written permission of the senior superintendent of Police of the District, cannot be arrested.
It was also held that there is no absolute bar on anticipatory bail, a preliminary enquiry must be conducted before an arrest to be made to see whether the case was false in the parameter of the atrocities act or not.
Court also laid down several guidelines to prevent abuse of the scheduled caste and the scheduled tribes (prevention of atrocities) Act, 1989. In cases where section 433A applies, no question of reduction of sentence arises at all unless the President of India or the Governor choose to exercise their wide powers under Article 72 or Article 161 of the Constitution which also have to be exercised according to sound legal principles.
