Kerala High Court Directs Registry To Ensure That Victims/ De-Facto Complainants Are Impleaded In Proceedings Related To Offences Under SC/ ST Act

As per Section 15A (5) of the Act, the victim is entitled to be heard in any proceedings under this Act. The Court had by an order in 2019 held that in view of this section, the petitioner who initiates the proceedings has to implead the victim/ de-facto complainant. This has to be done even in the proceedings in which the cause of action arose before S. 15A was introduced into the Act. The Court directed the Registry to make sure that victim/ de-facto complainants are impleaded in these cases. In case the petitioner does not know the address of the victim, directions can be given to the Prosecutor to file a memo giving the address of the victim.

The Court referred to Hairam Bhambhi v Satyanarayanan (2021) where the Supreme Court discussed the importance of S. 15A. The Court observed that people belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes suffer on account of procedural lapses in the criminal justice system. Many victims do not file complaints fearing retribution from members of the upper caste or police apathy. Those who do are vulnerable to intimidation, violence and social and economic boycotts. Further, many perpetrators get away due to shoddy investigation and improper prosecution. This results in low conviction rates under the SC/ ST Act giving rise to a perception that people are filing false cases under this Act and the provisions of the Act are misused.

The appellant was convicted of offences under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The appeal was not numbered as the registry noted that the victim/ de-facto complainant wasn't made a party. The appellant argued that Section 15A does not mandate the impleadment of the de-facto complainant. The victim just needs to be informed about the proceedings by the Public Prosecutor.

The Court however rejected this argument referring to its earlier order.

Case Title: Sunny & Another v State of Kerala & Another

Case Number: Crl A. No. 1024 of 2024 (Filing No.)

Click Here to Read/Download Order