Under which Section of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 is 'economic boycott' defined?

Question

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Correct — B, Section 2(bc) (printed in the booklet as 'Section 2(b c)'). 'Economic boycott' is defined in Section 2(1)(bc) of the Act — a clause inserted by the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015 (brought into force on 26 January 2016). It covers refusing to deal with, employ, do business with or provide services and opportunities to a person, and abstaining from the normal professional or business relations one would otherwise maintain, when done to target SC/ST members.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Section 2(1)(b) defines the 'Code' (the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973), not economic boycott.  (c) There is no economic-boycott definition at '2(bf)'; the definition sits at 2(bc).  (d) Not the clause — 'economic boycott' is defined at 2(bc), not 2(bg).

Concept: Section 2 of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act is its definitions clause. The 2015 Amendment Act broadened the law to tackle newer forms of caste-based discrimination and inserted the definition of 'economic boycott' at Section 2(1)(bc). Economic boycott means refusing to deal, employ, do business with or provide services/opportunities to SC/ST members, or withdrawing normal professional and business relations with them, on caste grounds.

State PCS 2018 Q82 — Indian Polity PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2018 Q82 — Indian Polity PYQ with Answer