SC quashes FIR registered under SC/ST Act over disputed land after 60 years, calls it abuse of process

The Supreme Court of India has quashed an FIR registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, over disputed land after 60 years, calling it an abuse of process of the court. The Bench of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, in a judgement delivered on May 10, said that "purely civil disputes, more often than not, relating to land and/or money are given the colour of criminality, only for the purposes of exerting extra-judicial pressure on the party concerned, which, we reiterate, is nothing but abuse of the process of the court."

The case relates to a dispute over land ownership between the appellant, one of the co-owners, and the respondent, who filed an FIR under the SC/ST Act alleging caste-based atrocities, after the failure to obtain relief in civil suits.

The Court found that the delay in initiating the dispute, coupled with the failure to obtain relief in the civil suits, was a clear indication that the case was filed with ulterior motives and for oblique reasons. The Bench also held that even if the allegations were taken at face value, it was not discernible that any offence could be said to have been made out under the SC/ST Act against the appellant.

The Court observed that the officers who institute an FIR, based on any complaint, are duty-bound to be vigilant before invoking any provision of a stringent statute, like the SC/ST Act, which imposes serious penal consequences on the accused concerned. The Court clarified that its remarks were not intended to dilute the applicability of special or stringent statutes but were to remind the police not to mechanically apply the law, dehors reference to the factual position.

The Bench referred to various precedents, including the recent judgement in Neeharika Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. v State of Maharashtra, (2021) SCC OnLine SC 315, and held that the High Court fell in error in not invoking its wholesome power under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which empowers the Court to quash criminal proceedings that are frivolous or vexatious.

Therefore, the Court allowed the appeal and quashed the FIR, as well as any proceedings emanating from it, insofar as they related to the appellant.

DATE: May 10, 2023

SRI GULAM MUSTAFA  vs THE STATE OF KARNATAKA & ANR.