Supreme Court Holds Anticipatory Bail Under SC/ST Act Only If FIR Doesn’t Prima Facie Establish Offence

The Supreme Court reaffirmed that under Section 18 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, anticipatory bail is barred if the FIR prima facie discloses an offence under the Act.

A bench led by Chief Justice B. R. Gavai set aside a Bombay High Court order granting bail to an accused in a caste-atrocity allegation. 

The Court clarified that exceptions only arise if the FIR, at first glance, does not make out any prima facie offence, based solely on its face value, without delving into evidence or conducting a mini-trial. 

[Kiran V Rajkumar Jivraj Jain]