The Supreme Court on 28th May,2018 stayed the arrest of a women rights activist Trupti Desai in a case under the SC/ST Atrocities Act, in which she is an accused.The top court sought the response of Maharashtra government on a plea moved by Desai against the April 23 order of Bombay High Court rejecting her anticipatory bail application in the case of TRUPTI PRASHANT DESAI & ORS. V. THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA.
A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and M M Shantanagoudar, while issuing notice to the state government, stayed the immediate arrest of Desai.The High Court while refusing to grant anticipatory bail to Desai and others in the case had said it was not going into the truth and falsity of the allegations at this stage.
“Once this complaint is perused in its entirety, particularly in the backdrop of the provisions of the SC/ST Act and the mandate of section 18 thereof, we cannot term this complaint as a patent false version,” a division bench of high court had said.
It had said that merely because the complaint was made after some time, does not mean that the ingredients of the provisions of the law were not prima facie satisfied.According to the prosecution, the complainant, Vijay Makasare, was heading towards Mumbai from his residence in Ahmednagar, when Desai, along with three others, came in their car and stopped his car.
They had then allegedly snatched his Samsung mobile phone, gold chain and money worth Rs 27,000, after which he was assaulted with sticks and iron rods by all the accused.The complainant has also alleged that as he belongs to the Mahar community, Desai and others had also abused him in the name of caste.
The police had registered a complaint under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989. Desai had argued before the high court that the “patently false” complaint was made 10 days after the incident.
The activist had contended that she has documents to show that the complainant does not belong to SC/ST community after converting to Christianity, but the high court refused to consider the argument saying no material was shown to it with regard to the alleged conversion.
Trupti Desai is the founder of the Bhumata Brigade, a Pune-based organisation, through which she has campaigned against the discriminatory treatment meted to women in religious places like Shani Shingnapur Temple in Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra, the Mahalakshmi Temple at Kolhapur district and the Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple in Nashik districts.
This decision of the SC came Amidst pendency of review petitions by the Union as well as several states against the controversial judgment in Dr. Subhash Kashinath Mahajan v. State of Maharashtra where the apex court, has directed preliminary enquiry prior to arrest and lifting the absolute ban on anticipatory bail.
Link of the order- drive.google.com/file/d/1JpKNq7xwAANN4rB5B2J-E29EoXbO4K3U/view