Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989

The appellant, Asmathunnisa, and her husband were charged under Section 3(1)(x) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 for allegedly insulting a complainant by naming his caste in the complainant's absence. The appellant argued that the offence requires the victim to be presen…

The appellant, a known acquaintance of the victim's family, entered the home of a blind Scheduled Caste woman and raped her, after which he was apprehended at the scene. The trial courts convicted him under Section 376(1) of the IPC and Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocit…

The case involved the brutal honour killing of a Jat girl, a Jatav boy and another Jatav youth who were tortured for twelve hours and murdered by a large group of villagers after the couple attempted an inter‑caste marriage. The trial court convicted 35 persons under IPC sections 147, 149, 302, 323, 324, 201 and s.3(3)…

Ramawatar, a resident of a Madhya Pradesh village, was convicted under Section 3(1)(x) of the SC/ST Act for allegedly insulting his neighbour Prembai, a Scheduled Caste woman, during a property dispute. The parties later entered into a voluntary compromise and the complainant sought to withdraw the criminal case. The S…

The case concerned the murder of Ganeshram in July 1998, for which Devilal, his son Gokul and Amrat Ram (AR) were charged under IPC s.302 r/w s.34 and the SC/ST Act. The trial court relied on the FIR as a dying declaration and on eyewitness testimony of the victim's wife (PW1) and sister‑in‑law (PW2), corroborated by r…

The case concerned allegations that the Superintendent of a women’s protection home in Patna administered intoxicating substances to inmates and facilitated their sexual exploitation. The accused, respondent No.2, was granted bail by the Patna High Court despite the victim not being notified, contrary to Section 15A(3)…

The appellant, Dr. Subhash Kashinath Mahajan, a senior government official, was charged under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for refusing sanction to prosecute two senior officers who had made adverse entries in his service record. He sought anticipatory bail and the quashing o…

The appellant, Ramesh Chandra Vaishya, was charged under sections 323, 504 IPC and section 3(1)(x) of the SC/ST Act for allegedly assaulting and verbally abusing the complainant over a water‑drainage dispute. Two FIRs were filed – one by the complainant and a second by the appellant after the police initially refused t…

The appellants were convicted by a Special Court under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 for offences under the IPC. They challenged the conviction on the ground that the Special Court, being a Court of Session, had taken cognizance without a committal order as required by S…

The appellant was convicted and sentenced to death for murder, rape and robbery based on circumstantial evidence, a last‑seen theory, confessions, recovered items and DNA evidence. The Supreme Court examined whether these evidentiary pillars were proved beyond reasonable doubt and whether the investigation complied wit…

The appellant was convicted under Sections 302 and 323 of the IPC and Sections 3(2)(v) and 3(1)(x) of the SC/ST Act for allegedly killing Shiva Shankar after a dispute arising from an elopement involving the appellant's sister. The prosecution's case relied mainly on the testimony of the victim's mother (an interested …

The appellant, Hitesh Verma, challenged a charge‑sheet filed under Sections 452, 504, 506 IPC and Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(e) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, alleging that the FIR was based on a property dispute and was false. The High Court dismissed his petition under Sec…

The appellant, a District Savings Officer, was charged under Section 306 of the IPC and Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST Act for the suicide of a senior clerk who left a suicide note blaming work pressure and harassment. The charge sheet was based solely on that note, and the investigating agency had initially filed a clos…

The appellants were convicted under Sections 306 and 114 of the IPC for allegedly abetting the suicide of Dashrathbhai Karsanbhai Parmar by blackmailing him with compromising photographs. The prosecution's case hinged on a suicide note, alleged blackmail, and the recovery of money and ornaments, none of which were subs…

Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 113 of 2016 and Special Leave Petition (Diary) No. 34629 of 2017 were referred to a Constitution Bench to answer five questions concerning the scope of freedom of speech under Article 19(1)(a) and the enforceability of fundamental rights against non-State actors. The petitions arose from st…

The Union of India sought review of the Supreme Court's directions in Dr. Subhash Kashinath Mahajan v. State of Maharashtra, which required approval of the appointing authority for arresting a public servant and of the SSP for a non‑public servant, and mandated a preliminary inquiry by a Dy SP before registering an FIR…