Plea seeking protection for forest staff

Subject :Polity

Context:

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to center on a plea seeking protection for forest staff.

More about the news:

The application was filed in the context of the death of Forest Range Officer Challamalla Srinivas after he was assaulted allegedly by a group of tribals following a dispute over forest land in Bhadradri Kothagudem district of Telangana
A two-judge bench presided by Justice B R Gavai issued notice to the court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) and the state of Telangana on the plea by Senior Advocate A D N Rao, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae in forest and wildlife law related matters for seeking protection for forest staff who faces hostile anti-social elements in the discharge of their duties and get slapped with the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1998, when they act in self-defence.

What is Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) ) Act, 1989.

The Government of India enacted the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in order to prevent atrocities against SC/STs.
The purpose of the Act was to prevent atrocities and help in the social inclusion of Dalits into society.
The legislation aims at preventing the commission of offences by persons other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Any person who is not a member of a scheduled caste or a scheduled tribe and commits an offence listed in the Act against a member of a scheduled caste or a scheduled tribe is an offender.
Moreover all offences listed in the Act are cognizable and police can arrest the offender without a warrant and start an investigation into the case without taking any orders from the court.
The Act prescribes both minimum as well as maximum punishment.
The minimum in most cases is six months imprisonment while the maximum is five years sentence and with a fine.
In some cases, the minimum is enhanced to one year while the maximum goes up to life imprisonment or even death sentence.