The Magistrate retains the authority to grant bail in cases under the SC & ST Act unless explicitly restricted by law, despite the exclusive jurisdiction of Special Courts for trial.

JUDGMENT :

Virender Singh, J.

Petitioner Asheesh Kumar has filed the present petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Cr. P.C.’), for quashing of order dated 7.2.2022, passed in Cr. M.A. No. 271/2022, titled as, ‘State vs. Rumit Singh Thakur’, passed by the learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Nahan, District Sirmour, H.P. (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Magistrate’).

2. By way of order dated 7.2.2022, the learned Magistrate has released respondent No. 5, on bail, when he was produced by the Police, in connection with FIR No. 19 of 2022, dated 6.2.2022, (hereinafter referred to as ‘the FIR in question’), under Section 3(1)(u) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the SC & ST Act’) and Section 153(a) of the Indian Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as ‘the IPC’).

3. Brief facts, leading to filing of the present petition, before this Court, as borne out from the record, are that respondent No. 5 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the accused’) was arrested in the FIR in question and was produced before the learned Magistrate, on 7.2.2022.

4. Learned Magistrate has ordered the release of the applicant, forthwith, by dismissing the application, seeking judicial remand of the accused, by the Police. The accused has been ordered to be released on bail, on the ground that his arrest was against the mandate of Section 41 of the Cr.P.C.

5. While holding so, the learned Magistrate has relied upon the decision of Hon’ble Supreme Court in ‘Arnesh Kumar versus State of Bihar & anr’, reported in 2014 (8) SCC 273. The FIR in question is stated to have been registered on the statement of petitioner Aashish Kumar (hereinafter referred to as ‘the complainant’).

6. The FIR in question, in this case, has been registered under the provisions of SC & ST Act and the accused was produced before the learned Magistrate. The offences under the provisions of SC & ST Act are exclusively triable by the Special Courts or exclusive Special Courts, as defined in Section 14 of the SC & ST Act. Section 14 of the SC & ST Act is reproduced, as under:

“14. Special Court and Exclusive Special Court.—(1) For the purpose of providing for speedy trial, the State Government shall, with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of the High Court, by notification in the Official Gazette, establish an Exclusive Special Court for one or more Districts:

Provided that in Districts where less number of cases under this Act is recorded, the State Government shall, with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of the High Court, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify for such Districts, the Court of Session to be a Special Court to try the offences under this Act:

Provided further that the Courts so established or specified shall have power to directly take cognizance of offences under this Act.

(2) It shall be the duty of the State Government to establish adequate number of Courts to ensure that cases under this Act are disposed of within a period of two months, as far as possible.

(3) In every trial in the Special Court or the Exclusive Special Court, the proceedings shall be continued from day-to-day until all the witnesses in attendance have been examined, unless the Special Court or the Exclusive Special Court finds the adjournment of the same beyond the following day to be necessary for reasons to be recorded in writing:

Provided that when the trial relates to an offence under this Act, the trial shall, as far as possible, be completed within a period of two months from the date of filing of the charge sheet.”

7. In the opening line of Section 14 of the SC & ST Act, legislature, in its wisdom, has used the words, “for the purpose of providing for speedy trial”. The trial commences when the charges are framed by the Special Courts or exclusive Special Courts.

8. In view of the provisions of Section 14 of the SC & ST Act, the question, which arises for determinat