MPPSC 2018 Prelims Paper-I · Question 85 of 100

Correct — A. Causing physical harm or mental agony to an SC/ST member on the allegation of practising witchcraft or being a witch is an offence added by the 2015 Amendment Act (Section 3(1)(zb)). Like the other Section 3(1) atrocities, it is punishable with imprisonment of not less than six months, extendable up to five years, and with fine — i.e. a range, with a floor of six months and a ceiling of five years.

• (b)with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months and with fine — This drops the upper limit — the correct sentence runs from six months up to five years, not an open-ended minimum of six months.
• (c)with imprisonment for a term which shall be one year and with fine — A fixed one-year term is not what the Act prescribes; the punishment is a range of six months to five years.
• (d)with imprisonment for a term which shall be five years and with fine — Five years is the maximum, not a fixed term — the minimum is six months, so the sentence is a range (six months to five years), not a flat five years.

Section 3(1) of the SC/ST Act lists atrocities committed by non-SC/ST persons against SC/ST members; the general punishment for these offences is imprisonment of not less than six months but which may extend to five years, plus fine. The 2015 Amendment Act expanded Section 3(1) with new offences — including this witch-hunting provision at 3(1)(zb) — all carrying that standard penalty.

The four options differ only in the length of the sentence. The Section 3(1) offences share one standard punishment — a minimum of six months and a maximum of five years, with fine — so the option that states a range ('six months to five years and with fine') is right; the flat or fixed-term options are traps.

• The witch-hunting offence (physical harm / mental agony on a witchcraft allegation) was inserted by the 2015 Amendment Act as Section 3(1)(zb).
• Punishment: imprisonment of not less than six months, extendable to five years, and with fine.
• This is the standard penalty for Section 3(1) atrocities under the Act.
• It applies to a person who is not a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe.

• Choosing a fixed-term option (one year / five years) instead of the six-months-to-five-years range
• Forgetting the minimum (six months) or the mandatory fine

MPPSC frames it as 'punishment for offence X' with four sentence-length options; the safe anchor is the standard Section 3(1) penalty — six months to five years and fine.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The standard punishment for atrocities under Section 3(1) of the SC/ST Act is imprisonment of:

  • (a)six months to five years, and with fine
  • (b)one to three years
  • (c)two to seven years
  • (d)up to ten years

  Answer(a) six months to five years, and with fine — the standard Section 3(1) penalty.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The offence of harming an SC/ST member on the allegation of witchcraft was added to the Act by:

  • (a)the original 1989 Act
  • (b)the 1995 Rules
  • (c)the 2015 Amendment Act
  • (d)the 2018 Amendment Act

  Answer(c) the 2015 Amendment Act.