SUMAN MAHTO Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Precisely narrated, the questions as regards, the ambit, scope and the limitations of Sec. 14A of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act' in short), are involved in the present reference to the Division Bench made by a learned single-Judge of this Court by an order dtd. 8/4/2019, passed in the present batch of cases. In paragraph no. 2 of the Reference Order, the learned single-Judge has expressed disagreement with the view taken by a co-ordinate bench of a learned single-Judge. The order of Reference, however, missed to refer to the exact decision of the co-ordinate bench of learned single-Judge of this court with which learned Judge was not in agreement. Learned single-Judge in his concluding paragraphs of the Reference Order has noted as under:-

(2.) We deem it proper, in that background, to reproduce in verbatim paragraph nos. 1 and 2 of the order of Reference dtd. 8/4/2019:-

(3.) When the order of Reference dtd. 8/4/2019 came to be placed before Hon'ble the Chief Justice, before directing the matters to be placed before a Division Bench, the then Hon'ble Chief Justice ordered for placing the papers of these matters before a Division Bench for resolving the controversy by an order dtd. 11/4/2019, with the following remarks:-