“4. (1) Whoever, being a public servant but not being a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe, wilfully neglects his duties required to be performed by him under this Act and the rules made thereunder, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to one year.
(2) The duties of public servant referred to in sub-section (1) shall include––
(a) to read out to an informant the information given orally, and reduced to writing by the officer in charge of the police station, before taking the signature of the informant;
(b) to register a complaint or a First Information Report under this Act and other relevant provisions and to register it under appropriate sections of this Act;
(c) to furnish a copy of the information so recorded forthwith to the informant;
(d) to record the statement of the victims or witnesses;
(e) to conduct the investigation and file charge sheet in the Special Court or the Exclusive Special Court within a period of sixty days, and to explain the delay if any, in writing;
(f) to correctly prepare, frame and translate any document or electronic record;
45 of 1860.
Substitution of new section for section 4.
Punishment for neglect of duties.
SEC. 1] THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY 7
(g) to perform any other duty specified in this Act or the rules made thereunder:
Provided that the charges in this regard against the public servant shall be booked on the recommendation of an administrative enquiry.
(3) The cognizance in respect of any dereliction of duty referred to in sub-section (2) by a public servant shall be taken by the Special Court or the Exclusive Special Court and shall give direction for penal proceedings against such public servant.”.
6. In section 8 of the principal Act,––
(i) in clause (a), for the words “any financial assistance to a person accused of”, the words “any financial assistance in relation to the offences committed by a person accused of” shall be substituted;
(ii) after clause (b), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:––
“(c) the accused was having personal knowledge of the victim or his family, the Court shall presume that the accused was aware of the caste or tribal identity of the victim, unless the contrary is proved.”.
7. In section 10 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1),––
(a) after the words and figures “article 244 of the Constitution”, the words, brackets and figures “or any area identified under the provisions of clause (vii) of sub-section (2) of section 21” shall be inserted;
(b) for the words “two years”, the words “three years” shall be substituted.
8. For section 14 of the principal Act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:––
“14. (1) For the purpose of providing for speedy trial, the State Government shall, with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of the High Court, by notification in the Official Gazette, establish an Exclusive Special Court for one or more Districts:
Provided that in Districts where less number of cases under this Act is recorded, the State Government shall, with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of the High Court, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify for such Districts, the Court of Session to be a Special Court to try the offences under this Act:
Provided further that the Courts so established or specified shall have power to directly take cognizance of offences under this Act.
(2) It shall be the duty of the State Government to establish adequate number of Courts to ensure that cases under this Act are disposed of within a period of two months, as far as possible.
(3) In every trial in the Special Court or the Exclusive Special Court, the proceedings shall be continued from day-to-day until all the witnesses in attendance have been examined, unless the Special Court or the Exclusive Special Court finds the adjournment of the same beyond the following day to be necessary for reasons to be recorded in writing:
Provided that when the trial relates to an offence under this Act, the trial shall, as far as possible, be completed within a period of two months from the date of filing of the charge sheet.”.
Amendment of section 8.
Amendment of section 10.
Substitution of new section for section 14.
Special Court and Exclusive Special Court.
8 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY [PART II—