Ahmedabad: A division bench of Gujarat High Court has ruled that any person accused of committing atrocity against people belonging to scheduled castes/tribes, cannot legally seek anticipatory bail.
The division bench of Justice A L Dave and Justice
Bankim N Mehta has further ruled that a court cannot grant
such persons anticipatory bail in view of specific bar under
Section 18 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
The court passed the ruling last week while deciding
on a crucial question referred to it by a single judge,
whether provisions contained in Prevention of Atrocities Act,
1989 imposes a bar on a person's right to anticipatory bail.
"Once a provision of law enacted by Legislature is
held to be not unconstitutional or not violative of Article 21
of the Constitution, the same stands on statute book and has
to be read as it is and court while interpreting the same,
cannot read what is not provided for in the provision nor can
it ignore what is provided for in the provision," the division
bench ruled.
"A person who is facing accusation of having committed
an offence under the Atrocities Act, cannot legally invoke
provisions of Section-438 of the CrPC in view of specific bar
contained under Section-18 of the Atrocities Act and a court
cannot grant anticipatory bail to a person accused of having
committed an offence," it added.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, December 06, 2011, 21:41