The SC/ST Atrocities Act, by its very design, encourages misuse rather than genuine grievance redressal.
1. In a country where people kill each other over few hundred rupees, offering 1,00,000 rupees simply for filing a case under this Act, for offenses as minor as verbal abuse, creates a obvious perverse incentive. Up to 50% of this amount is disbursed upon the filing of the FIR alone, requiring no prior investigation. Another 25% is paid when the chargesheet is filed. The best part is, if the case is later proven false, the compensation is not automatically recovered. How could this setup not encourage misuse?
2. There is no requirement for a preliminary inquiry. Someone makes a complaint, and you are arrested, that's it. With anticipatory bail explicitly barred, you are left entirely at the mercy of the legal system. Depending on your financial resources, getting bail can take anywhere from a few days to many years; a man in UP spent 20 years in jail before being acquitted of false charges. While defenders of the law argue that the innocent will eventually be freed, the process itself becomes the punishment. Why should innocent individuals endure humiliation and severe mental, physical, financial, and social hardship in the name of skewed social justice?
3. There are virtually no consequences for deliberate false accusations. A complainant can fabricate allegations, land an innocent person in prison, collect govt compensation, be exposed as a liar in court, and still face zero accountability. Instead, they can simply play the victim, claiming that the justice system fails the marginalized.
This framework has spawned a lucrative extortion ecosystem. Syndicates exploit the threat of non-bailable arrest to blackmail citizens, business owners, and public officials. When unverified cash payouts, absolute immunity, and guaranteed incarceration align, a law designed to shield the vulnerable inevitably becomes a tool for institutionalized extortion.
🔗 THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13)
September 7, 2026 18
