False case against Dalit using forged documents? Will SC/ST Act apply? Kerala High Court’s major ruling
The High Court said, “When it is prima facie established that the suit filed… is false, malicious, or vexatious, particularly by using a forged plaint document, when the defendants are members of the Scheduled Castes and the plaintiffs are not members of the Scheduled Castes, the offence under Section 3(1)(q) of the SC and ST (POA) Act will prima facie be attracted.” Kochi—The Kerala High Court has held in a significant ruling that filing a false, malicious, or vexatious suit against a member of the Scheduled Castes (SC) using forged documents constitutes an offence under Section 3(1)(q) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. A single bench of Justice A. Badruddin, on February 3, in the CRL.A. The decision was delivered in Court No. 2214 of 2025, in which the appellant, Velayudhan, a 68-year-old Dalit man, challenged an order of the Special SC/ST Atrocities Prevention Court in Thrissur. According to the case, Velayudhan filed a case at the Irinjalakuda police station. The allegation was that HIGHWAY KURIES PVT LTD and its Managing Director, Subhash, had filed a lawsuit, presenting a forged promissory note. This note was purportedly signed by Velayudhan and his father, but both denied it in written statements. The accused party withdrew the case after the complaint was filed. The complaint alleged offenses under sections 465, 468, and 471 of the Indian Penal Code, as well as sections 3(1)(p) and 3(1)(q) of the SC/ST Act. During the investigation, the Deputy Superintendent of Police filed a report on October 22, 2024, stating that the Koori company was unaware of the complainant’s caste, and therefore, the charges under the SC/ST Act should be dropped. On August 26, 2025, the Special Court dismissed the application in CRL.MP No. 1160/2024, which sought monitoring of the investigation. The court stated that the investigating officer’s report showed that the accused was unaware of the caste and had no criminal intent. The High Court, after hearing the appeal, ruled that the deemed acceptance of the investigating officer’s report by the Special Court was incorrect. The court said, “When it is prima facie established that the suit filed… is false, malicious or vexatious, particularly by using a forged plaint document, when the defendants therein are members of the Scheduled Castes and the plaintiffs are not members of the Scheduled Castes, the offence under Section 3(1)(q) of the SC and ST (POA) Act would prima facie be attracted.” The court cited Section 8(c) of the SC/ST Act, which came into effect from January 26, 2016. It states that if the accused has personal knowledge of the victim or his family, the court shall presume that the accused was aware of the caste of the victim, unless the contrary is proved. The court observed, “When a Kuri company engaged in the business of chitty (VC), after acquiring knowledge of the subscriber, deals with the subscriber for its Kuri transaction, and then files a case to recover the amount due under the Kuri transaction on the basis of an allegedly forged promissory note, the Kuri company cannot be considered to be a person who was unaware of the caste identity of the defendant in the case, especially when the knowledge of the accused’s caste identity is a matter of conjecture unless the contrary is proved by evidence.” The court upheld the offence under Section 3(1)(q) but did not comment separately on Section 3(1)(p). Partially allowing the appeal, the court partially set aside the special court’s order. The request for monitoring of the investigation was rejected, but directed that the investigating officer obtain the promissory note from the court and have the signatures examined by a forensic laboratory. The final report should be filed in the special court after obtaining expert opinion. This decision is significant in cases of false prosecution and forged documents under the SC/ST Act, as it strengthens the statutory presumption regarding caste information and emphasizes the need for thorough investigation. Geetha Sunil Pillai Courtesy: Hindi News
Odisha: Anganwadi in Nuagaon Shuts After Villagers Refuse to Let Dalit Woman Cook for Children
Odisha Anganwadi Shuts as Villagers Bar Dalit Woman In rural Odisha, deep-rooted caste prejudice has forced the closure of an anganwadi centre in Nuagaon village, Rajnagar block, Kendrapara district, for nearly three months. Parents have reportedly stopped sending their children to the centre after a 23-year-old Dalit woman, Sarmista Sethi, was appointed as a helper-cum-cook on November 24, 2025. According to Sarmista, villagers from upper-caste families openly resisted her appointment, saying their children would not eat food prepared by a Dalit woman. The village committee, which also included instructions for Dalit households, reportedly told families not to send their children to the centre. “After my appointment, some upper-caste villagers warned me not to cook for the children. When I refused, they stopped sending their kids. Even women stopped coming to the centre,” Sarmista said. Around 45 families, including seven Dalit households, live in the riverside village. The social boycott has affected nearly 60 children who are now deprived of anganwadi services. Pregnant and lactating women have also stopped visiting the centre, missing out on crucial health benefits, according to Ghadiamala sarpanch Sailendra Mishra. “We have repeatedly urged villagers to send their children, but they have not listened,” he said. Anganwadi worker Lizarani Pandav informed the chief development project officer (CDPO) of Rajnagar block about the situation. CDPO Dipali Mishra said, “We have been trying to convince parents to send their children. The tehsildar and I held discussions with villagers, but the issue remains unresolved.” A team of Dalit leaders visited Nuagaon village on Tuesday, demanding legal action against those preventing children and women from attending the centre. Nagen Jena, district president of Dalit Samaj, cited the 2004 Supreme Court interim order in PUCL vs Government of India, which prioritises SC/ST candidates as cooks in midday meal schemes. Kendrapara district collector Raghuram R Iyer said he has directed the district social welfare officer to submit a detailed report. “After receiving the report, appropriate action will be taken against those who are illegally preventing children and women from attending the anganwadi centre. We are also trying to resolve the matter amicably through discussions with villagers,” he added. Courtesy : TOP Note: This news is originally published on https:/theobserverpost.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Government confident it did better in battle of wits with opposition
NEW DELHI: Any hope of normalcy returning to LS was apparently dashed when opposition stepped up their offensive and submitted a notice for the removal of the Speaker. In a twist, it turned out to be the end of a week-long impasse, laying bare faultlines within the opposition as pragmatic voices wanting to be heard on key issues in the House prevailed over those favouring uncompromising rigidity and confrontation. LS functioned normally even though the govt did not agree to the conditions set by Congress: allowing LoP Rahul Gandhi to speak, rectification of the Speaker’s “baseless” claim that he had to request PM not to speak during the debate on motion of thanks to the President for her address in view of plans of Congress’ MPs to do something unprecedented, and a probe into why BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s mic was not switched off when he attacked Nehru-Gandhi family. The prevailing view within govt was that it had come out better in the battle of wits by not making any concession to the key Congress demand of allowing Rahul to speak first and revoking the suspension of eight MPs to defuse the crisis that had stalled proceedings. What helped the govt defuse the impasse was the keenness among some key regional BJP rivals for LS to function and allow discussion on regional concerns. Bengal and Tamil Nadu, where TMC and DMK are in office, are headed to polls, while political temperature is rising in UP, where Samajwadi Party is the main opposition party, with elections only a year away. While TMC made its differences clear by not signing the notice, MPs from different non-Congress oppn parties suggested many of them did not want the first half of the session to be consumed by the deadlock. Across the aisle, BJP’s allies stood firm with the govt, backing the Speaker and criticising the opposition for targeting a constitutional office. Taking high moral ground, Birla decided not to attend till the notice is disposed of, signalling the matter may be taken up later in the session. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Delay in alliance talks by DMK ‘saddening’: Cong
Chennai: Congress leaders mounted pressure on DMK to constitute a panel to hold seat sharing talks ‘immediately,’ stating the delay on the part of DMK in constituting the panel was ‘saddening.’ Congress leaders, who held a meeting with Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday in New Delhi, appeared to toughen their stand. They said the delay in seat-sharing talks could affect ground level preparations for the assembly elections. “It has been more than 70 days since AICC president formed a committee comprising five members and it is more than two months since the committee called on chief minister M K Stalin on Dec 3,” Girish Chodankar, head of the five-member committee told reporters after the meeting in New Delhi. “We are waiting with hope against hope that they will start the negotiation,” Chodankar said. Chodankar said the absence of a formal coordination mechanism was ‘saddening’ and it had caused concern among party cadres and leaders. “There is no negotiation committee yet, no coordination, and alliance talks have not started. Our cadres keep asking why there is no progress. It may appear as though we are delaying matters, but that is not the case. We have met the CM and followed it up repeatedly, but there has been no development,” he said. Chodankar said elections were approaching fast and parties needed sufficient time to prepare. “We are not blaming anyone. We are only stating the fact that we have been waiting for 70 days and do not know the reason for the delay,” he said. TNCC chief K Selvaperunthagai echoed the concern, urging Stalin to constitute the panel immediately. “Our request to CM is to form the panel immediately. Last-minute seat allocation and election processes do not work well,” he said stating the delayed preparations in Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections did not yield results. He said the message would be conveyed to Stalin directly on Wednesday. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Rahul says no to debate on Budget, wins allies’ praise
New Delhi: As the opposition gathered to decide strategy for the upcoming discussion on Budget on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi faced a unanimous demand from allies that he should start the debate, if only to get back at BJP which had not let him speak for seven days. The demand was led by DMK’s T R Baalu and supported by others. But Rahul resisted. He argued that if he stood up to speak, it would result in objections from the treasury benches. And the ensuing commotion would cost every opposition party the chance to speak. He underlined that all regional parties has important issues to raise, and they should not fall prey to “organised disruptions” of BJP. The move won a few hearts in the room, with an ally-critic of LoP Rahul Gandhi later describing it as a “magnanimous” gesture. The meeting was attended by Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge, K C Venugopal, Naseer Hussain and Manickam Tagore, Ramgopal Yadav (SP), N K Premachandran (RSP), Sanjay Raut and Arvind Sawant (SS), John Brittas (CPM), PC Gupta (RJD), Shatabdi Roy (TMC), E T Mohd Basheer (IUML), Rajaram Singh (CPI-ML), among others. That was how the plan was clinched, with the party sticking to Shashi Tharoor to initiate the discussion. Gandhi will speak on the Budget on Wednesday. When the India bloc leaders met in Kharge’s chamber to brainstorm on the future course, the allies decided on ending the logjam. If Gandhi is still blocked from speaking, they would submit the planned no-confidence notice against Speaker Om Birla, and then get on with the stalled business. If Gandhi is allowed, the notice will not be filed. Lok Sabha is now expected to hold normal proceedings. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Dalit cardinal elected head of Indian bishops’ body
Cardinal Anthony Poola — India’s first Dalit cardinal — was elected Saturday as the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, a body uniting the country’s three main rites. The Feb. 7 appointment highlights the significant role that Dalits — who occupy the lowest rung in India’s traditional caste hierarchy — play within the Catholic Church in India. But while almost two-thirds of India’s Catholics are believed to be Dalits, they are under-represented in the priesthood and episcopate. Indian Catholics hailed Poola’s appointment as a historic step following centuries of discrimination against Dalits within the Church. Bishop Sarat Chandra Nayak, president of the CBCI’s Commission for Castes and Other Disadvantaged Groups, told AsiaNews: “The president is elected by secret ballot, according to long-established statutes. By choosing Cardinal Poola for his merits, the bishops have sent a clear and prophetic message to those who still carry with them the logic of castes (both as perpetrators and victims): Dalits and tribal people can be leaders in the Church at all levels.” Poola, the 64-year-old Latin Catholic Archbishop of Hyderabad, was chosen to succeed the Syro-Malabar Archbishop Andrews Thazhath at a Feb. 4-10 CBCI meeting in Bengaluru, the capital of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Thazhath had led the assembly of bishops since 2022. Poola, the first Dalit to serve as CBCI president, takes up the role at a time of rising fear among India’s Christians, following a series of attacks before Christmas. A CBCI press release said: “With his election as president of the CBCI, Cardinal Poola Anthony assumes leadership of the Catholic Church in India at a crucial moment, bringing with him decades of pastoral experience, administrative leadership, and a strong commitment to the Church’s mission in service of faith, justice, and human dignity.” The CBCI issued a document in 2016 calling for “Dalit empowerment” in the Church. The text acknowledged that “practices of untouchability do exist in the Church” and set out policies to eliminate discrimination. The document estimated that around 12 million of India’s 19 million Catholics were Dalits. It said that Dalits only accounted for 1,130 out of the country’s 27,000 priests (4.2%) and 4,500 out of 100,000 religious (4.5%). The first Dalit Catholic bishop, Bishop John Mulagada, was appointed in 1977. In 2016, only 12 of India’s 180 bishops were Dalits (6.6%). In March 2025, India’s Supreme Court agreed to examine a petition alleging bias against Dalit Catholics in a parish in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The petitioners, from a parish in the village of Kottapalayam, in the Latin Rite Diocese of Kumbakonam, said they had experienced discrimination within the Church from members of the upper caste. The CBCI, established in 1944 and based in New Delhi, brings together India’s Latin Rite, Syro-Malabar, and Syro-Malankara bishops to take common action on issues affecting the wider Catholic Church in India. The CBCI’s presidency informally rotates between India’s three sui iuris Churches, and other senior roles are carefully balanced. Also elected Feb. 7 were the Syro-Malankara Archbishop Thomas Mar Koorilos as the CBCI’s first vice-president and Syro-Malabar Archbishop Mathew Moolakkatt as second vice-president. Archbishop Anil Couto, the Latin Catholic Archbishop of Delhi, was re-elected as the CBCI’s secretary general. Anthony Poola was born in Poluru, a village in India’s southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh, on Nov. 15, 1961, to a Catholic father and a Hindu mother. He was ordained a priest of the Latin Rite Diocese of Cuddapah in 1992. From 2001 to 2003, he studied for a master’s degree in pastoral care and attended a theology course at Loyola University Chicago, while serving in the city’s St. Genevieve parish. In 2008, he was named Bishop of Kurnool, his birth diocese. In 2020, Pope Francis appointed him Archbishop of Hyderabad, the capital of the south-central Indian state of Telangana. The Hyderabad archdiocese serves around 117,000 Catholics, out of a total population of almost 15 million. In 2022, Poola became the first Dalit to be appointed to the College of Cardinals. He was also the first cardinal to be a native speaker of Telugu, a language spoken by almost 100 million people, mainly based in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, the Latin Catholic Bishop of Daltonganj, told UCA News Feb. 8 that Poola’s election as CBCI president would “send a strong message to Christians of Dalit origin that the Church upholds the dignity of everyone.” Luke Coppen Courtesy : The Pillar Note: This news is originally published on https:/thepillar.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Dalit girl molested in Rae Bareli: While returning from school after taking an exam, bees raised an alarm.
The emboldenment of miscreants is steadily increasing in Rae Bareli district, where Mission Shakti appears to be failing. The entire incident took place in the Unchahar sugarcane region of Rae Bareli district. A student from a village in the sugarcane region was returning home from school after taking an exam when she was molested by miscreants. Following the investigation, police have launched an investigation. The student, a resident of a village in the area, stated that she is a Class 11 student at a school in Babuganj. On Monday, while returning home on her bicycle after taking the annual exam, two young men from the village stopped her on the way and molested her. When the girl’s father arrived at the scene, the men fled. The girl stated that the young men had behaved in this manner on several occasions. The bees raised the issue with her father. Police Inspector Ajay Kumar Rai stated that the matter will be investigated and action will be taken against the conspiracy. Mahatab Ahmed | Dinshah Gaura (Rae Bareli), Rae Bareli Courtesy: Hindi News
Dalit youth brutally assaulted, loses in one eye
Bhadohi: A Dalit youth was brutally assaulted here and lost eyesight in one eye after an attacker allegedly pierced a motorcycle key when an argument over the former defecating near a canal escalated, police said on Monday.The injured youth, Rahul, in early 20’s, was referred in a critical condition from the district hospital to Varanasi on Sunday for advanced treatment. According to police, the incident took place on Friday afternoon when Rahul had gone to a canal in the Aurai area to defecate. This resulted in an argument between the victim and the accused, Shankar Bind, as the latter objected to Rahul defecating near the canal. The attacker allegedly abused Rahul using caste-based slurs and assaulted him. When Rahul tried to escape, the accused allegedly pierced a motorcycle key in his left eye and threatened to kill him, Superintendent of Police Abhimanyu Manglik said, adding that the victim collapsed on the ground in severe pain. The accused fled the spot after locals gathered there. The SP said police reached the spot after receiving information and shifted the injured youth to a community health centre, from where he was later admitted to the district hospital. “As the injury to his left eye was severe, and he complained of loss of vision, doctors on Sunday referred him to the BHU Trauma Centre in Varanasi,” Manglik said. Courtesy : THI Note: This news is originally published on https:/thehansindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Delhi Police register FIR over circulation of an unpublished book of ex-Army chief Naravane
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Monday registered an FIR over the circulation of an unpublished book of ex-Chief of Army Staff General Naravane on social media, cops told news agency PTI. A row erupted over General Naravane’s book after Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi cited excerpts from the former Army chief’s unpublished memoir and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “not fulfilling responsibility” during the 2020 India-China military clashes in Ladakh. Speaking to reporters outside the Parliament the Congress leader said, “The speaker is saying that this book does not exist, Rajnath ji has said this book does not exist. This is Naravane ji’s book wherein he has written the account of Ladakh…Narendra Modi ji did not fulfil his responsibility.” Rahul Gandhi’s insistence on reading purported extracts from the yet-to-be-published Naravane’s book shone the spotlight on the rules and regulations that restrict senior military officials from revealing classified information or crucial leadership decisions even after retirement. Meanwhile, Penguin Random House, which holds the publishing rights, said the book has “not gone into publication. No copies of the book – in print or digital form – have been published, distributed, sold, or otherwise made available to the public” by them. “In light of recent public discourse and media reporting, Penguin Random House India would like to clarify that we hold the sole publishing rights for the book Four Stars of Destiny, a memoir by General Manoj Mukund Naravane, former Chief of the Indian Army. We wish to make it clear that the book has not gone into publication. No copies of the book – in print or digital form – have been published, distributed, sold, or otherwise made available to the public by Penguin Random House India,” the publishing house wrote on X. — PenguinIndia (@PenguinIndia) There has been no official word from the author or even the ministry on the status of the book. Senior military officials, particularly those dealing with classified information, are subject to regulations under the Official Secrets Act that restrict the publication of books or information even after retirement to prevent such classified material from becoming public. While a general one-year “cooling-off” period exists for taking up commercial or private employment, regulations for publishing secret content require prior government clearance. “Four Stars of Destiny”, a memoir of Naravane, who was Army chief from December 31, 2019, to April 30, 2022, remains unpublished due to pending clearance from the defence ministry regarding sensitive details on the 2020 Line of Actual Control (LAC) standoff and Agnipath scheme. If the said rules and regulations are violated, the government can take legal action and such violations can also lead to the withholding of part or all of the pension of the military official concerned, as per CCS (Pension) Rules. There are chances that if the memoir is published, it could “flare up” the LAC situation with China. In May-June 2020, Indian and Chinese troops engaged in violent face-offs along the LAC in eastern Ladakh and Sikkim, most notably during the June 15, 2020, clash in Galwan Valley that resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers. There were casualties on the Chinese side as well. This marked the deadliest confrontation in decades, leading to major troop escalations. Under the then General Naravane’s command, India and China held a series of ground-level talks that led to “disengagement” in a phased manner from the stand-off areas. As of today, the situation along LAC is characterised by a “thaw” following a series of disengagement agreements, yet high-level military forward deployment from both sides persists. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
PM’s Lok Sabha absence not due to any threat from us: Women Congress MPs to Birla
NEW DELHI: Women MPs belonging to Congress told Speaker Om Birla Monday that under pressure from the govt, he made “false, baseless and defamatory allegations” that PM Modi faced potential threat from them, because of which he did not come to LS to reply to the motion of thanks. In a letter to Birla, the MPs said he made the allegations a day later under govt pressure “to defend the non-appearance of the PM”, arguing that “questioning our integrity is a attack on every woman who earns her place in public life with dignity and courage”. “His (PM) absence from the House was not due to any threat from us, it was an act of fear. He did not have the courage to face the opposition,” said the letter, signed by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, S Jothimani, R Sudha, Geniben Thakor, Varsha Gaikwad and Jyotsna Mahant. Rubbishing the idea that women members could have indulged in violence, Rahul Gandhi told reporters if any member did threaten, the govt should file an FIR and arrest that MP. The letter questioning the Speaker’s impartiality, with a remark like “you are no longer the decision maker”, marks a sharp escalation of tension that has prevailed between the governing camp-Speaker and the opposition during the Budget session. “It is amply clear that you are under sustained pressure from the ruling party. We urge you once again to act as impartial custodian of the Lok Sabha,” they wrote, adding, “let history remember you as one who stood for what was right in the most trying circumstances… let it not remember you as one who bowed to pressure from those who leave no stone unturned in subverting constitutional values and damaging the democratic fabric of our nation.” The MPs said while LoP Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to speak for four days and eight opposition MPs were suspended, a BJP MP was allowed to speak in a “vulgar and obscene manner against former PMs”, an unnamed reference to Nishikant Dubey’s speech. They claimed Birla had agreed that a wrong had happened but left Congress’ demand for Dubey’s suspension to be decided by ruling party. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights