: A criminal case that could be tried exclusively by a special court constituted for trying offences under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 could not be transferred to any other court either by way of a judicial order or administrative instructions, the Madras High Court Bench here has held.
Justices S. Nagamuthu and M.V. Muralidaran passed the ruling while allowing a clarification petition filed by the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) urging the court to clarify whether a Mahila Court was competent to hear a case of sexual abuse of Dalit girl students by a government school headmaster at Pothumbu near here in August 2011.
The AIDWA pointed out that it had filed a public interest litigation petition in 2014 seeking a direction to the Home Secretary to frame a set of guidelines to be followed by police officials in the State while dealing with child sexual abuse cases registered before the enactment of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
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That PIL petition was filed on the ground that many child abuse cases went unreported because the victims and their families did not come forward to complain due to the insensitive attitude of the prosecuting agencies.
The petitioner had made a reference to the Pothumbu sexual harassment case which had been registered before the enactment of the POCSO Act. Disposing of the PIL petition on July 4, 2014, another Division Bench of the High Court issued a series of directions on how the trial in the case should be conducted.
The first direction was issued to the Principal District Judge here to “assign” the case for trial to an Additional District Court “which is presided over by a woman judicial officer of great sensitivity to handle cases of this nature.” The Principal District Judge assigned the case to the Mahila Court, and hence, the clarification petition.
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Not in agreement with the direction issued by the earlier Division Bench, the Bench led by Mr. Justice Nagamuthu said the usage of the word “assign” was inappropriate since cases booked under the SC/ST Act could only be made over or committed to the special court which enjoyed original jurisdiction to conduct the trial and deliver its verdict.
“A Special Court nominated for the purpose of trying offences under the SC/ST Act is not subordinate to the Principal District Judge, and so, the latter has no power to shift such a case to some other court. The transfer of the case from the special court to the Mahila Court is wholly without any jurisdiction,” the judge said, and clarified that the trial shall be conducted in the special court.