SC/ST Act Requires Caste Motive & Serious Offence: Rajasthan HC Quashes Charges in 30-Year Land Dispute

Jodhpur-  In a significant ruling, the Rajasthan High Court has clarified that the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act can be invoked only when an offence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is punishable with ten years or more imprisonment and is committed on account of caste-based animosity.

The judgment was delivered by a single bench of Justice Farzand Ali while acquitting three brothers in a 30-year-old land dispute case from Pratapgarh of charges under the SC/ST Act. The court, however, upheld their conviction for criminal trespass.

The case pertained to an incident from 1995 in Selarpura village, Pratapgarh, within the Udaipur division. The appellants Kalu, Rustam, and Wahid Khan, had challenged their conviction and sentencing by a trial court.

The prosecution's case alleged that the accused had trespassed onto the complainant's land and assaulted him. After three decades of legal proceedings, the High Court examined the evidence and found that the dispute was essentially over the use of a pathway (pagdandi) and was not motivated by any caste-based hatred or ill-will against the complainant, who belonged to a Scheduled Caste.

Justice Farzand Ali, in his order, observed that for the SC/ST Act to apply, two cumulative conditions must be satisfied:

1. The offence committed must be punishable under the IPC with imprisonment for a term of ten years or more.

2. The crime must be committed because of the victim's caste identity.

Applying this test to the facts, the court noted that the offence of criminal trespass under Section 447 of the IPC carries a maximum sentence of only three months. Since the first condition itself was not met, the IPC offence was not punishable with ten years or more, the provisions of the SC/ST Act could not be triggered, irrespective of the victim's caste.

"Merely because the victim belongs to a Scheduled Caste, the provisions of the SC/ST Act would not automatically apply," the judgment implied. The act requires the crime to be intrinsically linked to caste-based discrimination.

While setting aside the conviction under the SC/ST Act, the High Court maintained the guilt under Section 447 IPC for trespass. However, taking a compassionate view, the bench noted that the appellants are now elderly and over 30 years have elapsed since the incident.

Considering the period they had already spent in jail during the trial, the court ruled that the old jail term would be considered sufficient punishment. No further sentence was imposed.