IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) SATURDAY, THE FIFTH DAY OF JANUARY TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE V.ESWARAIAH WRIT PETITION No.5332 of 2005 Between: Samatha Suvarma Kumari, W/o. Youraj, Pedathummidi, Bandlagudem Sivar, Krishna District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Superintendent of Police, Krishna District, Machilipatnam 2 The Deputy Superintendent of Police, Krishna District, Machilipatnam 3 Station House Officer, Bantumilli Police Station, Bangumilli, Krishna District. 4 The Circle Inspector of Police, Bandar (Rural) Machilipatnam. 5 The Revenue Divisional Officer, Machilipatnam, Krishna District. .....RESPONDENT(S) Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to to issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ or direction declaring the action of the 3rd respondent in registering the case under the provisions of SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 as illegal, arbitrary and one without jurisdiction and consequently set aside the proceedings in Cr.No. 7/2005 in so far as the petitioner is concerned and pass such other or further orders as the Hon'ble Court feels deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.S.V.RAMANA Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR REVENUE The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE V.ESWARAIAH WRIT PETITION No.5332 of 2005 ORDER: It is the case of the petitioner that a case has been registered against her in Cr.No.7 of 2005 on 28-01-2005 on the file of the Bontumilli Police Station of Krishna District for the offences punishable under Sections 447, 466, 468 and 471 read with Section 114 IPC and Section 3 (i) (iv) (v) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (for short “the Act”) and Section 7 of the A.P.Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977. It is stated that as she belongs to Scheduled Caste community, the provisions of the Act do not apply to her. It is stated that as per Section 3 of the Act, if any offence is committed under the Act by the members of Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes against persons belonging to Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, the provisions of the Act do not apply and the provisions of the Act are applicable, if any offence under the Act is committed by the persons other than Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes against persons belonging to Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes. A perusal of Section 3 of the Act goes to show that if the persons other than the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes commit an offence under the Act against the members of Scheduled Tribes or Scheduled Castes, then only the provisions of the Act will apply to such persons. Therefore, I am of the opinion that the case registered against the petitioner for the offence under Section 3 (i) (iv) (v) of the Act is liable to be quashed. Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, the registration of the case for the offence punishable under Section 3 (i) (iv) (v) of the Act alone is set aside directing respondents 3 and 4 to proceed further and investigate and file final report or charge-sheet, as the case may be, for the offences punishable under Sections 447, 466, 468 and 471 read with Section 114 IPC and Section 7 of A.P.Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977. Accordingly, the writ petition is disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs. ___________ 01-05-2008 Prv ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1.2CCs to 2.2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{SPJS}