The FIR lodged under Section 506 of Indian Penal Code and Section 3 of The Scheduled Castes and The Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989(PoA) against Prof. Ashis Nandy
for his statements in a discussion at the Jaipur Literature Festival
2013 and the protest demanding his arrest.
The Scheme of PoA does not permit any court to grant an anticipatory bail if the accused is lodged under any of PoA's section. Section 18 of the PoA reads, 'Nothing in Section 438 of the Code shall apply in relation to any case
involving the arrest of any person on an accusation of having committed
an offence under this Act.' Section 438 of CrPC deals with Anticipatory Bail.
"Once a provision of law enacted by Legislature is held to be not
unconstitutional or not violative of Article 21 of the Constitution, the
same stands on statute book and has to be read as it is and court while
interpreting the same, cannot read what is not provided for in the
provision nor can it ignore what is provided for in the provision,"
"A person who is facing accusation of having committed an offence under
the Atrocities Act, cannot legally invoke provisions of Section-438 of
the CrPC in view of specific bar contained under Section-18 of the
Atrocities Act and a court cannot grant anticipatory bail to a person
accused of having committed an offence,"
-Justice A.L. Dave while deciding the question of Anticipatory Bail.
It is interesting to note that there are various conflicting judgements on the same issue. While some High Courts are of the opinion that a person booked under PoA act has right to get anticipatory bail, some HC contradicts this view by stating that PoA is a special Act and it has overriding effect on any general Act, in the present case it is CrPC.
Prof. Nandy has already clarified his statements and said that he is misquoted and misinterpreted. In this situation Prof. Nandy has an option to approach the court for quashing an FIR. Proff. Ashish Nandy has got good exposure of Criminal Cases and Courts, in 2010, an FIR against Nandy was registered under section 153A (promoting
communal disharmony) and 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to
national integration) of Indian Penal Code. He got anticipatory bail from Supreme Court. Prof. Nandy will now know that Atrocity is heinous crime. Prof. Nandy has deep rooted bias against Middle class. Though, the comment was made in connection with "Corruption is an equalizer"; in a sense he has justified the menace of corruption!
Moral of the Story: Justice G.S. Sanghvi proclaimed while deciding Prof. Nandy's application: " If a journalist cannot write, who else will?" Its the time to reframe the question, " If a professor cannot speak, who else will?"
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