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Bombay HC Orders Video Recording of FIR Appeals Under SC/ST Act
Very recently, the Bombay High Court has held that all the proceedings under the under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (SC/ST Act), including appeal proceedings which seek registration of FIR under the Act should be video recorded.
Single-judge Justice Sandeep Marne held that following the High Court ruling in Dr. Hema Suresh Ahuja & Ors. … ‘any proceeding’ under the SC/ST Act has to be video recorded and even appeal proceedings seeking registration of FIR, would be covered by the expression ‘any proceeding’.
This precedent also ensured that all action under the SC/ST Act as well as the appeals should be covered by videos for safety of the victims and the witness.
Therefore, since the Division Bench of this Court has held that “any proceeding” relating to the SC & ST Act need to be video recorded, in my view, even a proceeding seeking registration of FIR would be covered by the expression ‘any proceeding’ used by Division Bench in paragraph 34(2) of the judgment in Dr. Hema Suresh Ahuja (supra) That is why this Court in its order dated 03.
This order was made on an interlocutory application which sought for recording of the appeal proceedings on video.
As in the case at hand the applicants claimed that the appeal should have been recorded in order to satisfy this decision.
To support their argument they pointed out that the Division Bench in Ahuja’s case had taken a categorical position that the expression ‘any proceeding’ under the Act encompasses all proceedings of any forum and this clearly includes an appeal.
This the opposing counsel dismissed and urged that until the offence under the SC/ST Act was not even being formally reported, there could be no question of applicability of the provision that wants video recording. Some of them of them stated that the appeal was not made because of an offence committed under the Act.
The Court did not subscribe to the argument of the latter.
It decided the applicants’ favour and particularly noted that the Division Bench judgment in Ahuja included any proceeding concerning the SC/ST Act including appeals made for FIR registration.
Appearance for the applicants: Altaf Khan, Akash Mangalgi and Mohan Chavan.
Respondents case was being argued by advocate Yugandhara Khanwilkar.
Further, Additional Public Prosecutor Shilpa K Gajare-Dhumal appeared on behalf of the State of Maharashtra.
