New offences of Atrocities & Speedy Justice - The amended SC & ST Prevention of Atrocities Act comes into force - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 18, 2016
The amended Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules were recently notified. The major amendments to the principle act include addition of new offences of atrocities, rationalization of payment of relief amount, establishment of exclusive special courts etc.
The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs) Prevention of Atrocities (PoA) Act, 1989 was amended recently to include new offences and to ensure speedy justice to victims. The amendments to the act were originally issued as an ordinance by the previous UPA government in March 2014. The NDA government has now got the amendments passed in both the houses of parliament. Subsequent to the amendments, certain changes became necessary to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995. The said rules are now modified and were notified on 14 April, 2016.
Major amendments to the rules
Crimes against the SCs and STs have been on the rise. A total of 39408 crimes against SCs were reported in the year 2013 while the number of crimes against SCs has gone up to 47064 in 2014. There has been a demand to amend the existing PoA act to include more offences and to ensure relief & speedy justice to the victims.
The following major changes have been made now via the amendment
New Offences of Atrocities
The following new offences have been added to the list of atrocities
Exclusive Special Courts for Speedy Justice
The amendments to the act also mandate establishment of exclusive Special Courts and appointment of Exclusive Special Public Prosecutors to try the offences under this act. This is made to enable speedy justice and expeditious disposal of cases.
The Special Courts have been authorized to take direct cognizance of offence and as far as possible, completion of trial of the case within two months, from the date of filing of the charge sheet.
The State Governments have been asked to prepare a panel of senior advocates who have been in practice for not less than seven years for each District, for conducting the cases filed under this act. The State Governments have also been asked to review the performance of these advocates at least twice in a calendar year. They are also asked to review various reports received, investigation made and preventive steps taken by the District Magistrate, Sub-Divisional Magistrate and Superintendent of Police, relief and rehabilitation facilities provided to the victims etc.
Enhancement in Relief Amount
The norms for relief amount have also been rationalized including enhancement of the relief amount for certain offences.  Relief amount in case of certain offences are
A new chapter on the ‘Rights of Victims and Witnesses’ has also been added to the act. The term ‘willful negligence’ of public servants at all levels, starting from the registration of complaint, and covering aspects of dereliction of duty under this Act has been clearly defined.
Presumption to the offences has been added to the act, i.e., If the accused was acquainted with the victim or his family, the court will presume that the accused was aware of the caste or tribal identity of the victim unless proved otherwise.