The New Indian Express ·
Caste identity alone not a ground to invoke SC/ST Act: Allahabad HC
LUCKNOW: In a significant observation, the Allahabad High Court held that a person’s Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe status alone could not attract the provisions of the SC/ST Act, saying that all essential ingredients of the offence must be established before the Act can be invoked.
The HC made the observations while quashing criminal proceedings against the accused insofar as the charges under the SC/ST Act were concerned.
The dispute was related to a property transaction, but the provisions of the SC/ST Act were invoked solely because the complainant belonged to a Scheduled Caste.
