How many Sections are there under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

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 As originally enacted, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 is organised into 5 Chapters and 23 Sections — from Section 1 (short title,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.

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

Concept: 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.

State PCS 2018 Q86 — Indian Polity PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2018 Q86 — Indian Polity PYQ with Answer