SCST Act - When mandates registration of FIR without preliminary enquiry

Madras High Court Upholds FIR Registration Without Preliminary Enquiry in SC/ST Act Case Court reinforces mandatory FIR registration under Section 18-A of the SC/ST Act, dismissing police officers' appeal for civil dispute classification.

The Madras High Court, in a significant ruling, has reaffirmed the mandatory registration of First Information Reports (FIR) under Section 18-A of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, without the need for a preliminary enquiry. The judgment was delivered by Mrs. L. Victoria Gowri, J., addressing a criminal revision case where police officers had refrained from registering an FIR by categorizing a Scheduled Caste complaint as a civil dispute.

The case revolved around a complaint filed by Suriya and others, members of a Scheduled Caste, alleging wrongful occupation and dispossession from ancestral lands by Gandhi and others. The police had treated the complaint as a civil matter, declining to register an FIR. This decision was challenged, and the Special Court directed the registration of an FIR, a directive which the police officers sought to revise.

The High Court dismissed the revision petition, underscoring that Section 18-A of the SC/ST Act prohibits preliminary enquiry when a complaint prima facie discloses cognizable offences. The Court highlighted that the officers' actions in treating the matter as a civil dispute, thereby avoiding FIR registration, contravened statutory mandates. It was emphasized that the coexistence of civil and criminal proceedings is possible, and the pendency of a civil suit does not exempt criminal proceedings under the Act.

Furthermore, the Court clarified that public servants' neglect of duty under Section 4 of the SC/ST Act does not necessitate prior departmental enquiry or recommendation for FIR registration. The Court also dismissed the need for sanction under Section 197 of the Cr.P.C. at the stage of FIR registration, stating that any sanction issues would be considered at the cognizance stage.

Reaffirming the decision of the Special Court, the High Court ordered the immediate registration of an FIR and directed that the investigation be conducted by a competent officer other than the current Deputy Superintendent of Police, who had previously closed the matter as civil.

This ruling reinforces the legal framework ensuring protection for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes against atrocities and emphasizes the obligation of law enforcement to adhere to statutory mandates without circumventing them through administrative discretion.

Statutory provision(s): Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 - Section 18-A, Section 4; Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 - Section 156(3), Section 197, Section 154(1), Section 154(3).

Suriya v. Gandhi, (Madras)(Madurai Bench) : Law Finder Doc Id # 2811474