C.R. Dash, J.

Heard Mr. Jagannath Pattnaik, learned Senior Counsel, who acted as Amicus Curiae on the request by this Court, and Mr. S.P. Mishra, learned Advocate General.

2. The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (“S.C. & S.T. Act” for short) came into force w.e.f. 30.01.1990. It needs no mention that, this Act is relatable to the expression ‘Law’ in Article 17 of the Constitution of India. The objects and reasons of the S.C. & S.T. Act clearly pronounce that the members of the S.C. & S.T. communities remain vulnerable and they are denied number of civil rights in the society. They are also subjected to numerous humiliation and harassments.

Since the Protection of Civil Rights Act (1951) and the general provisions of the Indian Penal Code were found inadequate to meet the situations faced by the members of the S.C. & S.T. communities, a special legislation in the form of S.C. & S.T. Act was promulgated to check and deter crimes against the members of the S.C. & S.T. communities. Recently, some important amendments were brought into the S.C. & S.T. Act. Said Amendment of 2015 (Act-1 of 2016) (“S.C. & S.T. Amendment Act” for short) has come i