Supreme Court: SC/ST Act will not apply in civil matters, what will be the effect of this decision

what is the whole matter

One of the civil cases is from the State of Tamil Nadu. Where a Dalit man named P Bhaktavathachalam had constructed a house on a vacant plot. On this vacant plot, the temple was started to be constructed by the upper caste people. The custodians of the temple construction had lodged a complaint that Bhaktavathachalam had carried out unauthorized constructions on its ground and first floors in violation of building norms.

In response to this complaint, Bhaktavathachalam filed a complaint under the SC/ST Act , alleging that the temple was being constructed by encroaching on public roads, sewage and water pipelines. They said that this temple is being built just to harass them by the upper caste people. It was said in the complaint that he was being deprived of his property because he was a Dalit.

In this case, a Magistrate Court at Egmore, Chennai has issued summons to those accused. After which the Madras High Court refused to give relief to the accused belonging to the upper caste community against the issue of summons by the Magistrate Court .

After the matter reached the Supreme Court, a bench of Justices MR Shah and Krisham Murari allowed the accused to present their case. After which the summons issued to the accused were quashed.

While hearing the matter, the Supreme Court observed that an attempt was being made to convert a case of purely civil dispute into a case of caste harassment under the SC and ST Act. Which is an abuse of the process of law.

This decision can be misused in future

After this decision of the Supreme Court, The Mooknayak spoke to Patna Court advocate Nand Kumar Sagar about this. He told that what the Supreme Court has found in the investigation in this matter. According to him, according to the complaint of the complainant, there is no hindrance in commuting on the road. That’s why applying the SC/ST Act has become like misusing it.

Talking about the future, he says that people can use this case as a reference in future cases. Whose direct impact will be on the poor Dalits. Those who really get entangled in such controversies and later lose their property as well. That’s why this matter can bother people somewhere in the future. Also it can be misused in future.