A Study of Victim’s Compensation Process of the Cases Reported under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 in Kurukshetra District in Haryana

The sociological aspects oflaw depict the connection between society, individuals and groups. The development of sociological & human rights jurisprudence has enabled the law to emerge as the legal order of the state with the instrumentality of replacing the harmful customs of society. The law as a regulator, in modern times, attempted to cater the needs of the people with the changing needs of the society. In this line, the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 is also an instrument to curb the age old menace of untouchability, exploitation and mal-treatment which is purely based on caste system of Hindu social order. Apart from this, from time to time, the institutional mechanism of the state has also tried to protect the victim through its law, order and policies so that the victim may not merely remain a tool of supplying evidences to the prosecution to further the trial of the court. Depending upon the nature & gravity of the offence, Haryana Govt. formulated the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995 Amendments 2011which enshrine the quantum of relief to the victim under the above act. The present study is based on secondary data on registered cased under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 which is collected from District Social Welfare Office, Kurukshetra from 01/04/2017 to 31/01/2018. It may be concluded that major objectives of the said act was to bring out social equality, however, some of the victims started using this institutional measure as a tool for income generation & threatening, harassing, blackmailing and creating a fearful environment for higher castes.