MPPSC 2018 Prelims Paper-I · Question 86 of 100

Correct — C, 23. As originally enacted, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 is organised into 5 Chapters and 23 Sections — from Section 1 (short title, extent and commencement) through Section 23 (power of the Central Government to make rules). This is the count the commission's key accepts.

• (a)18 — Too few — 18 does not match the Act's section count; the statute runs to 23 sections.
• (b)22 — A near-miss trap (one short of the correct figure), but the Act ends at Section 23, not 22.
• (d)27 — An over-count; the principal Act has 23 sections, not 27.

The SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 is a special criminal law that gives effect to Article 17 (abolition of untouchability) and Article 46 (promotion of the interests of the weaker sections). It creates a category of 'atrocities' — offences committed against members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes by persons who are not members of those groups — and provides Special Courts, enhanced punishments and relief/rehabilitation. In its original form it has 5 Chapters and 23 Sections.

MPPSC likes to test the raw architecture of social-justice statutes — number of sections, chapters, or the date of commencement. The trap options cluster tightly around the true figure (22, 23) so a rote number is being tested; there is no way to reason it out, it must be remembered.

• Enacted 1989; came into force 30 January 1990
• Original structure: 5 Chapters, 23 Sections
• Gives statutory effect to Article 17 and Article 46 of the Constitution
• Provides for Special Courts and a Special Public Prosecutor to speed up trials
• The 2015 amendment later inserted new provisions (e.g. Chapter IV-A on rights of victims and witnesses)

• Confusing the number of sections (23) with the number of chapters (5)
• Mixing up the year of enactment (1989) with the year of commencement (1990)

MPPSC asks this as a straight recall — 'how many sections/chapters', 'which section defines X', 'when did it come into force'. Lock the pair: 5 chapters, 23 sections.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 came into force on:

  • (a)30 January 1990
  • (b)26 January 1989
  • (c)15 August 1990
  • (d)2 October 1989

  Answer(a) 30 January 1990 — the Act (1989) was brought into force from this date.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 primarily gives statutory effect to which Fundamental Right / Directive Principle?

  • (a)Right to Freedom of speech
  • (b)Article 17 (abolition of untouchability) and Article 46
  • (c)Right to Property
  • (d)Article 21A (right to education)

  Answer(b) Article 17 and Article 46 — abolition of untouchability and protection of weaker sections.