SWAMI VIVEKANAND SUBHARTI UNIVERSITY

SUBJECT: SOCIOLOGY

TOPIC - CRIME AGAINST SCHEDULED CASTES

SUBMITTED TO:       SUBMITTED BY:

Dr. Sartaj Ahmed Sumit Kumar

Associate Professor B.A LL.B

1ST SEMESTER

SARDAR PATEL SUBHARTI INSTITUTE OF LAW

SWAMIVIVEKANANDSUBHARTIUNIVERSITY, MEERUT,
U.P

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

At the very outset, I would like to pay thanks to the almighty God. It gives me immense
pleasure to acknowledge and pay thanks, who helped me throughout the course of my work. I am
really thankful to our respected subject teacher Dr. Sartaj Ahmed, Associate Professor, Sardar
Patel Subharti Institute of Law, Swami Vivekananda Subharti University. Under whose learned
and scholarly guidance the present work has been completed. He helped us in a passive way. He
gave me moral support and guided me in different matters regarding the topic. He has been very
kind and patient while suggesting me the outlines of this project and correcting my doubts.
I thank him for overall support. Constructive suggestions have always been soothing and
desired effect, hence it is my duty to express my gratitude for his constant support and
encouragement.
I want to pay my sincere thanks to Dean, Faculty of Law, all the teachers of Sardar Patel
Subharti Institute of Law, Swami Vivekananda Subharti University. Last but not the least, my
thanks to all who have helped directly or indirectly in the completion of my work.         

Sumit Kumar

B.A LL.B (1st SEMESTER)

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

 INTRODUCTION
 CRIME AGAINST SCHEDULED CASTES

 CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS
 LEGAL RIGHTS

 CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES
 PROTECTION OF CIVIL RIGHTS ACT
 INCIDENCE OF IPC CRIMES AGAINST SCS
 CONCLUSION

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 CRIME AGAINST SCHEDULED CASTES

India is committed to the welfare and development of its people in general and
of vulnerable sections of society in particular. Equality of status and
opportunity to all citizens of the country is guaranteed by the Constitution of
India, which also provides that no individual shall be discriminated against on
the grounds of religion, caste or sex, etc. Fundamental rights and other specific
provisions, namely, Articles 38, 39 and 46 in the Constitution of India stand
testimony to the commitment of the State towards its people. The strategy of
the State is to secure distributive justice and allocation of resources to support
programmes for social, economic and educational advancement of the weaker
sections in general and persons belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes in particular.

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 CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS

The Indian Constitution vide Article 15 lays down that no citizen shall be
subjected to any disability or restriction on the grounds of religion, race, caste,
sex or place of birth. It also guarantees that every citizen shall have equality of
status and opportunity. The problems of social inequality and class divide in a
country like India with heterogeneous groups and sub-groups needs to be
recognised and resolved by all available democratic measures including special
legislations to deal with particular acts constituting offences against such
weaker sections of the society. `Scheduled Castes' and `Scheduled Tribes' are
two such identified social groups. Article 46 of the constitution of India
expressly provides that the State shall promote the educational and economic
upliftment of the weaker sections of the society, in particular of SCs & STs
with special care and shall protect them from injustice and all forms of
exploitation.

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 LEGAL RIGHTS

Special social enactments have come into force from time to time for SCs and
STs in order to uphold the constitutional mandate and safeguard the interests of
these sections of the society. The major legal enactments at the national level
are: (i) The Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 (ii) The Scheduled
Caste/Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 The Protection of
Civil Rights Act, 1955 was enacted in furtherance of Article 17 of the
Constitution to abolish untouchability and its practice in any form. The
Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 was
brought into force from 30th January 1990 in order to check and deter crimes
against persons belonging to SCs/STs by persons belonging to other
communities. These enactments have extended the positive discrimination in
favour of SCs and STs to the field of criminal law in as much as they prescribe
penalties that are more stringent than the corresponding offences under Indian
Penal Code (IPC) and other laws. Special Courts have been established in
major states for speedy trial of cases registered exclusively under these Acts.

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 CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES

Considering the data requirements of various stakeholders, the classifications

of crimes have been revised recently for collection of comprehensive data on
crime committed against SCs and STs. The new classification of crimes
against persons belonging to SCs & STs broadly categorized under three major
crime heads, namely:- (i) the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 for
measuring incidents of discriminations against persons belonging to SCs &
STs by NonSCs/STs. Crime in India-2015 110 (ii) Atrocities committed
against persons belonging to SCs and STs by Non-SCs and STs i.e. where
SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been applied along with various
sections of IPC. Incidents of various sections of IPC murder, grievous hurt,
rape . along with the SC/ST (PoA) Act. (iii) Crime committed against SCs and
STs where SC/ST (PoA) Act has not been applied and only IPC sections have
been involved. Besides these three major heads, data on following crime heads
have also been collected:- (iv) The Employment of Manual Scavengers and
Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1923 (v) Other SLL crimes In
the revised proformae of Crime in India, comprehensive information on crimes
committed against SC/ST women under various crime heads namely assault on
SC/ST women with intent to outrage her modesty (section 354 IPC) along with
further breakup of sub-section 354A IPC (sexual harassment), section 354B
IPC (assault or use of criminal force to women with intent to disrobe), section
354C IPC (voyeurism) & section 354D IPC (stalking); insult to modesty of
SC/ST women (under section 509IPC) took place in office premises or at
public transport or other places related to works;. The ‘Crime Rate’ for crimes
committed against SCs and STs has been calculated using the population of SC

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and ST respectively only, based on The Population Census 2011. Since mid-
year projection in respect of SCs & STs population is not available.

CRIME AGAINST PERSONS BELONGING TO SCHEDULED CASTE

INCIDENCE OF CRIME –

National (Incidence: 45,003 Rate: 22.3) A total of 45,003 cases of total crimes
committed against SCs(which include atrocities as well as non-atrocities cases)
were registered in the country as compared to 47,064 cases registered in 2014,
showing a decrease of 4.4% in 2015 over 2014. It may be mentioned that
during 2015, out of 45,003 cases of crime against SCs 38,564 cases under
various section of IPC along with the SC/ST(POA) Act (atrocities cases i.e.
where SC/ST(POA) Act applied), 6,009 cases under various section of IPC
wherein the SC/ST (POA) Act was not applied, 324 cases under other SLL
crimes. The highest incidents of crime against SCs were reported from Uttar
Pradesh (8,358 cases) followed by Rajasthan (6,998 cases), Bihar (6,438 cases)
and Andhra Pradesh (4,415 cases), they accounted for 18.6%, 15.5%, 14.3%
and 9.8% of total such crimes registered during 2015 respectively. During
2015, crimes rate of 22.3 was reported under crimes committed on persons
belonging to SCs.

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PROTECTION OF CIVIL RIGHTS ACT

(Incidence: 106 Rate: 0.1) A total of 106 cases under this Act were registered
during 2015. Maximum cases under this Act were reported in Bihar (74 cases)
followed by Karnataka (11 cases), Maharashtra (9 cases), Himachal Pradesh (3
cases) and Odisha & Delhi UT (2 cases each) during 2015.

Incidence of Atrocities against SCs (Incidence: 38,564 Rate: 19.2)

A total of 38,564 cases of atrocities against SCs (in which SC/ST(POA) Act
applied) were registered in the country during 2015. The highest incidents of
atrocities against SCs were reported from Uttar Pradesh (8,357 cases) followed
by Bihar (6,293 cases), Rajasthan (5,911 cases) and Madhya Pradesh (3,546
cases). Majority of victims under atrocities against SCs were also reported
from Uttar Pradesh (8,459 persons) followed by Bihar (6,552 persons),
Rajasthan (5,979 persons) and Madhya Pradesh (3,693 persons). The highest
rate of atrocities against SCs was reported from Goa (51.1) followed by
Rajasthan (48.4), Bihar (38.0) and Daman & Diu (32.7) compared to 19.2 at all
India level during 2015. Crime in India-2015 111

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INCIDENCE OF IPC CRIMES AGAINST SCS

(in which the SC/ST(PoA) Act not applied i.e. Non-atrocities Cases)
(Incidence: 6,009 Rate: 3.0)

A total of 6,009 cases of IPC without the SC/ST(POA) Act (in which
SC/ST(POA) Act not applied i.e. non-atrocities) were also registered in the
country during 2015. The highest number of such cases were reported from
Andhra Pradesh (2,050 cases) followed by Rajasthan (1,040 cases),
Chhattisgarh (790 cases), Madhya Pradesh (638 cases) and Odisha (482 cases).
The highest number of victims in such cases were also reported from Andhra
Pradesh (2,062 persons) followed by Rajasthan (1,048 persons), Chhattisgarh
(790 persons), Madhya Pradesh (671 persons) and Odisha (530 persons).
Among the above States, the highest rate of crime was reported from Andhra
Pradesh (24.3) followed by Chhattisgarh (24.1), Rajasthan (8.5), Odisha (6.7)
and Madhya Pradesh (5.6). Table 7.2 contains State/UTwise details on IPC
cases where the SC/ST (POA) Act has been applied, as well as cases where
this Act was not applied & number of victims in above two categories of cases
and crime rate during 2015.

Disposal of Crimes Committed against SCs by Police

Out of 59,834 cases of crime against SCs for investigation (including 45,003
cases registered during 2015), 42,459 cases were disposed of by police during
2015. Of these cases, the charge-sheets were submitted in 31,852 cases and in
2,028 cases charge-sheets were not laid but final reports were submitted as
true, thus showing charge-sheet rate of 94.0%. A charge-sheet rate of 97.5%
and 93.5% were reported under the Protection Civil Rights Act and atrocities

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against SCs respectively. A total of 17,375 cases were remained pending for
investigation at the end of 2015. The details may be seen in Table 7.3.

Disposal of Crimes Committed against Scheduled Castes by Courts

A total of 1,40,340 cases of crimes committed against persons belonging to

Scheduled Castes were for trial in the country during 2015. Trials were
completed in 17,012 during 2015 out of which 4,702 cases ended in conviction
and in 12,310 cases accused persons were acquitted or discharged. At the end
of 2015, a total of 1,22,083 cases remained pending for trial. The conviction
rate of 27.6% and pendency rate of 86.9% under crime against SCs were
reported during 2015. The details may be seen in Table 7.4.

Disposal of Persons Arrested for Committing Crime against Scheduled

Castes by Police

Out of 97,786 persons (consisting of 21,932 persons either in the custody or

on bail at the beginning of the year and 75,854 persons arrested during 2015),
charge-sheets were submitted against 66,880 persons (consisting of 65,244
males and 1,636 females) during the year 2015. Investigation by police was
pending in respect of 24,280 persons at the end of 2015. The details may be
seen in Table 7.5.

Disposal of Persons Arrested for Committing Crime against Scheduled

Castes by Courts.

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A total of 3,03,605 persons were under trial for committing crimes against SCs
in the country during 2015. A total of 9,656 persons (consisting of 9,557 males
and 99 females) were convicted and 25,385 persons (consisting of 24,716
males and 669 females) were acquitted. 500 persons were also discharged by
courts for want of evidence or otherwise during 2015. The trials in respect of
2,65,905 persons were remained pending at the end of 2015. The details may
be seen in Table 7.6.

District-wise Incidents of Total Crimes against SCs

A total of 16 districts have registered more than 300 cases of crimes against
SCs during 2015, while 34 districts have reported IPC crimes between 200 and
300 and a bulk of them i.e. 765 of these districts have reported less than 200
such cases (including nil case) during 2015. The police districts which have
registered more than 300 cases of crimes against SCs during 2015 are:

Crime against Scheduled Tribes Incidence of Crimes

– National (Incidence: 10,914 Rate: 10.5) A total of 10,914 cases of crimes

committed on persons belonging to Scheduled Tribes(include atrocities as well
as nonatrocities cases) were registered in the country during 2015 against
11,451 cases registered in 2014, indicating a decrease of 4.7% during 2015 in
comparison to 2014. It may be mentioned that during 2015, out of 10,914 cases
of crime against STs, 6,275 cases under various section of IPC along with the
SC/ST(POA) Act (atrocities cases i.e. where SC/ST(POA) Act applied), 4,203
cases under various section of IPC wherein the SC/ST (POA) Act was not
applied, 435 cases under other SLL crimes and 1 case of the Protection of Civil
Rights Act was registered during 2015. Rajasthan has reported the highest

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number of such cases 3,207 which accounted for 29.4% of the total such cases
(10,914 cases) reported in the country. Madhya Pradesh (1,531 cases) and
Chhattisgarh (1,518 cases) also had significant share of 14.0% and 13.9% of
total such crimes respectively. The details may be seen in Table 7.7 & 7.8.

INCIDENCE OF ATROCITIES AGAINST STS

(Incidence: 6,275 Rate:6.0) A total of 6,275 cases of atrocities against person

belonging to Scheduled Tribe (in which SC/ST(POA) Act applied) were
registered in the country during 2015, showing a decrease of 8.1% (from 6,826
cases in 2014 to 6,375 cases in 2015) during 2015 over 2014. The highest
incidents of atrocities against STs were reported from Rajasthan (1,409 cases)
followed by Madhya Pradesh (1,358 cases) during 2015. The highest rate of
atrocities against STs was reported from Kerala (34.0) followed by Rajasthan
(15.3), Andhra Pradesh (13.8), Telangana (11.7) and A & N Island (10.5)
compared to 6.0 at all India level during 2015.

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 INCIDENCE OF IPC CRIMES AGAINST STS
(IN WHICH THE SC/ST(POA)

Act not applied i.e. Non-atrocities Cases) (Incidence: 4,203 Rate: 4.0) A
total of 4,203 cases of IPC without the SC/ST(POA) Act (in which
SC/ST(POA) Act not applied i.e. non-atrocities) were also registered in the
country during 2015. The highest number of such cases were reported from
Rajasthan (1,746 cases) followed by Chhattisgarh (816 cases), Odisha (696
cases), Andhra Pradesh (352 cases) and Telangana (302 cases). Among the
above States, the highest rate of crime was reported from Rajasthan (18.9)
followed by Andhra Pradesh (13.4) and Chhattisgarh (10.4) compared to all
India level of 4.0. Table 7.8 contains State/UT-wise details on IPC cases
where the SC/ST (POA) Act has been applied, as well as cases where this
Act was not applied & number of victims in above two categories of cases
and crime rate during 2015.

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