Lawyer Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Misuse of SC/ST Atrocities Act
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Lawyer Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Misuse of SC/ST Atrocities Act By Abhishek Jat, Advocate The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 was enacted with the object of shielding historically marginalized communities from systemic exploitation. However, the misuse of such protective legislation can undermine the credibility of the law and corrode public trust in the justice delivery system. A recent judgment from Lucknow has once again highlighted this concern, where Special Judge (SC/ST Act) Vivekanand Sharan Tripathi sentenced Advocate Parmanand Gupta to life imprisonment along with a fine of ₹5.1 lakh for deliberately misusing the SC/ST Act by orchestrating false cases in collusion with a complainant. The facts revealed that Gupta, in active connivance with a Dalit woman, had filed twenty-nine fabricated criminal cases, eighteen of which were instituted directly by him while the woman lodged eleven more. Several of these cases included serious...