Section 2 SC/ST Act: Definitions

Section 2 SC/ST Act Bare Act Text

2. Definitions.

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

(a) “atrocity” means an offence punishable under section 3;

(b) “Code” means the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974);

(bb) “dependent” means the spouse, children, parents, brother and sister of the victim, who are dependent wholly or mainly on such victim for his support and maintenance;

(bc) “economic boycott” means—

(i) a refusal to deal with, work for hire or do business with other person; or

(ii) to deny opportunities including access to services or contractual opportunities for rendering service for consideration; or

(iii) to refuse to do anything on the terms on which things would be commonly done in the ordinary course of business; or

(iv) to abstain from the professional or business relations that one would maintain with other person;

(bd) “Exclusive Special Court” means the Exclusive Special Court established under sub-section (1) of section 14 exclusively to try the offences under this Act;

(be) “forest rights” shall have the meaning assigned to it in sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (2 of 2007);

(bf) “manual scavenger” shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (g) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (25 of 2013);

(bg) “public servant” means a public servant as defined under section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), as well as any other person deemed to be a public servant under any other law for the time being in force and includes any person acting in his official capacity under the Central Government or the State Government, as the case may be;

(c) “Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes” shall have the meanings assigned to them respectively under clause (24) and clause (25) of article 366 of the Constitution;

(d) “Special Court” means a Court of Session specified as a Special Court in section 14;

(e) “Special Public Prosecutor” means a Public Prosecutor specified as a Special Public Prosecutor or an advocate referred to in section 15;

(ea) “Schedule” means the Schedule appended to this Act;

(eb) “social boycott” means a refusal to permit a person to render to other person or receive from him any customary service or to abstain from social relations that one would maintain with other person or to isolate him from others;

(ec) “victim” means any individual who falls within the definition of the “Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes” under clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 2, and who has suffered or experienced physical, mental, psychological, emotional or monetary harm or harm to his property as a result of the commission of any offence under this Act and includes his relatives, legal guardian and legal heirs;

(ed) “witness” means any person who is acquainted with the facts and circumstances, or is in possession of any information or has knowledge necessary for the purpose of investigation, inquiry or trial of any crime involving an offence under this Act, and who is or may be required to give information or make a statement or produce any document during investigation, inquiry or trial of such case and includes a victim of such offence;

(f) the words and expressions used but not defined in this Act and defined in the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872) or the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), as the case may be, shall be deemed to have the meanings respectively assigned to them in those enactments.

(2) Any reference in this Act to any enactment or any provision thereof shall, in relation to an area in which such enactment or such provision is not in force, be construed as a reference to the corresponding law, if any, in force in that area.

Section 2 SC/ST Act in Simple Words

When Section 2 SC/ST Act Applies

• Definitions in Section 2(1) SC/ST Act apply throughout the Act unless the context requires otherwise.
• An "atrocity" under Section 2(1)(a) SC/ST Act must be an offence punishable under Section 3 SC/ST Act.
• A primary "victim" under Section 2(1)(ec) SC/ST Act must belong to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe under Article 366(24) or Article 366(25) of the Constitution and suffer physical, mental, psychological, emotional, monetary, or property harm from an offence under the Act (with the victim's relatives, legal guardian, and legal heirs also included).
• A "dependent" under Section 2(1)(bb) SC/ST Act must be the victim's spouse, child, parent, brother, or sister who depends wholly or mainly on the victim for support and maintenance.
• A "witness" under Section 2(1)(ed) SC/ST Act must know the facts or hold information or knowledge needed for the investigation, inquiry, or trial of an offence under the Act and be required, or potentially required, to give information, make a statement, or produce a document (including the victim).
• Under Section 2(1)(f) and Section 2(2) SC/ST Act, undefined terms take their meanings from the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, or the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and references to laws not in force in an area point to the corresponding law in force there.

Example of Section 2 SC/ST Act

When Section 2 SC/ST Act Does Not Apply

• Under the opening words of Section 2(1) SC/ST Act, a statutory definition in Section 2(1) does not apply where the context in the Act requires otherwise.
• Section 2(1)(f) SC/ST Act imports definitions from the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, or the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 only for words and expressions that are not defined in the SC/ST Act itself.
• Section 2(2) SC/ST Act reads a statutory reference as pointing to a corresponding local law only in relation to an area where the referenced enactment or provision is not in force, and only if a corresponding law is in force in that area.

FAQs on Section 2 SC/ST Act

Sections Related to Section 2 SC/ST Act