Legal framework
The safeguards available to an accused person under this Act have changed several times in the last decade, and in opposite directions. Advice that was correct in 2018 is wrong today. This page sets out the sequence so that you can tell which position is current and which is stale.
The sequence
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1989 | The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act is enacted, creating specific offences, Special Courts and enhanced punishments. |
| 1995 | The Rules are notified. Rule 7 requires investigation by an officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police. Rule 12 governs relief and rehabilitation for victims. |
| 2016 | The 2015 Amendment Act comes into force. New offences are added, Exclusive Special Courts are provided for, a presumption is introduced in certain circumstances, and a chapter on the rights of victims and witnesses is inserted. |
| March 2018 | Subhash Kashinath Mahajan v. State of Maharashtra. The Supreme Court directs a preliminary enquiry before registration of an FIR, and written approval before arrest. |
| August 2018 | Parliament inserts Section 18A, expressly removing the requirement of a preliminary enquiry and of approval for arrest, and restating the exclusion of anticipatory bail. |
| October 2019 | The Supreme Court recalls its own directions in Mahajan on review, restoring the position under the Act as amended. |
| February 2020 | Prathvi Raj Chauhan v. Union of India. The 2018 amendment is upheld. The Court also holds that where no prima facie case under the Act is made out, the bar on anticipatory bail does not apply. |
| 2020 | Hitesh Verma v. State of Uttarakhand. Caste-based intent, and the requirement in Section 3(1)(r) that the insult or intimidation be in public view, are held to be essential ingredients rather than assumptions. |
| 2022 | Janhit Abhiyan v. Union of India. The 103rd Constitutional Amendment providing ten per cent reservation for economically weaker sections is upheld by a majority of three to two. |
| 1 July 2024 | The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 replace the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act. Section numbers in older judgments and older advice no longer match the current statute. |
Why the 2018 sequence matters so much
Between March and August 2018 the law on arrest under this Act said one thing, and from August 2018 it said the opposite. A great deal of writing produced in that window is still circulating, still indexed by search engines, and still being repeated as though it were current. It describes a preliminary enquiry and an approval requirement that no longer exist.
If you are reading anything about this Act, check its date before you rely on a word of it. That includes this page.
Where to read the primary material
Do not rely on summaries, including ours, when something turns on the exact words.
- Bare Acts and Rules: India Code, the Government of India's repository of central legislation, at indiacode.nic.in.
- Supreme Court judgments: the Supreme Court of India's own website at sci.gov.in, and the eSCR database of reported judgments.
- High Court judgments and case status: the eCourts services portal.
- Free case-law search: Indian Kanoon, which is convenient but not an official source. Verify anything important against the court's own record.
Current statutory references
Where our guidance pages cite a provision, these are the current sections and their predecessors:
| Subject | Now | Previously |
|---|---|---|
| Quashing by the High Court | Section 528 BNSS, 2023 | Section 482 CrPC |
| Default bail on expiry of investigation period | Section 187 BNSS, 2023 | Section 167(2) CrPC |
| Notice of appearance instead of arrest | Section 35 BNSS, 2023 | Section 41A CrPC |
| Prosecution requiring a complaint by the court | Section 215 BNSS, 2023 | Section 195 CrPC |
| False information to a public servant | Section 217 BNS, 2023 | Section 182 IPC |
| False charge of offence with intent to injure | Section 248 BNS, 2023 | Section 211 IPC |
This table is provided for orientation. Provisions were renumbered and in places reworded, so a new section is not always an exact reproduction of the old one. Verify the current text before relying on it, and see Our positions for what we argue should change.