The misuse of the SC/ST Act in property disputes necessitates thorough investigation and potential custodial interrogation, overriding the rights to bail due to risks of witness tampering.

JUDGMENT (Oral)

1. The hearing has been conducted through video conferencing.

2. With the consent of parties, the present appeal is taken up for final disposal today.

3. Vide the present appeal, the appellant seeks directions thereby to allow the present appeal and set aside the order dated 03.04.2020 passed by the Ld. Additional Sessions Judge-02, South West, District Courts, Dwarka, in Bail Application No. 1485/2020. He further seeks directions thereby to grant regular bail to the appellant in the case arising out of the FIR No. 139 dated 05.03.2020, under Sections 3 (1)(r)(s)(g)/3(2)(va) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Section 447 /506/34 of the INDIAN PENAL CODE , 1860 and Section 65 , 66, 66 E, 43 (i) and 43 (j) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (subsequently added), registered at PS Najafgarh, Dwarka, Delhi.

4. Initially the appellant filed Bail Application No. 779/2020 and for said purpose, the application was listed before this Court on 24.04.2020 wherein learned APP for the State and learned counsel for the complainant had strongly opposed the bail application on the ground that no such application lies against the order of rejection of bail application by the court concerned and only an appeal under Section 14(2) of SC/ST Act lies.

5. Accordingly, counsel for appellant was granted liberty to file an appeal as envisaged under Section 14 (2) of the SC/ST Act before the interim comes to an end.

6. Accordingly, bail application No. 779/2020 was dismissed as withdrawn. Thereafter, the present appeal has been filed.

7. Learned counsel for appellant submits that present FIR is a glaring and shocking example of misuse of a special legislation, enacted with the intention to prevent the commission of offences and atrocities against the members of the schedules casts and scheduled tribes, {i.e. the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989}, being abused at the hands of the informant/respondent no.2, for unscrupulously settling a property dispute with a non-member, i.e., the appellant which is pending for almost 2 decades and has history of previous litigation between them and to exact vengeance against the appellant. Thus, resulting in the incarceration of the appellant herein, who is a war veteran with the BSF and had proudly served the motherland in the year 1971 war and due to his impeccable service record had subsequently been posted by the Government of India for the protection of the ambassadors and high commissioners in various parts of the world and is now retired senior citizen.

8. Learned counsel further submits that appellant was in custody since 21.03.2020 and has already undergone custody of 38 days.

9. He further submits that adjacent to the informant's/respondent no.2 plot no.32, lies plot no.36, measuring 120 sq. yards and was purchased by the appellant herein from one Smt. Dhanwati in 2004. However, clarified that in earlier Bail Application No. 779/2020, due to typographical error, the year of the purchase of the plot has been inadvertently mentioned as 2006, instead of 2004. He further submits that for the last 14 years, the main dispute between the parties, is that the informant/respondent no.2, illegality claims title over 42 sq. yards from plot No. 36 owned by the appellant. Several panchayats have been convened to settle the dispute, and 3 earlier FIRs (2 FIRs by the informant/respondent no.2 and 1