Madras HC Raps Police for Calling SC Atrocity Complaint a Civil Matter, Directs FIR

The Madras High Court recently affirmed a Special Court’s direction to register an FIR against a Sub-Inspector and a Deputy Superintendent of Police who allegedly refused to file a case on a Scheduled Caste man’s complaint that his family’s Panchami land had been illegally occupied, holding that police officers cannot block the mandatory FIR requirement under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by calling such cases “civil disputes”.

Justice L. Victoria Gowri dismissed the criminal revision petition filed by the two officers and affirmed the Special Court’s February 2022 order directing registration of a case under Section 4 of the SC/ST Act and allied IPC provisions relating to neglect of duty. Justice Gowri said that once a complaint from an SC citizen prima facie discloses offences under Sections 3(1)(f), (g) or (p) of the Act, relating to wrongful occupation or dispossession of SC land, police cannot conduct a preliminary enquiry or refuse FIR registration on the ground that a civil suit is pending.

The complainant, a member of the Hindu Paraiyan community, had alleged that his ancestral assignment lands measuring 60 cents and 22 cents were unlawfully occupied by non-SC individuals. The lands were originally allotted to his ancestor in 1927. He approached the Manapparai Police Station in November 2021, leading to a CSR entry, but the officers only summoned parties and later closed the complaint stating that the dispute was civil in nature.

The High Court noted that Section 18-A of the SC/ST Act was enacted precisely to prevent such filtering of atrocity complaints through preliminary enquiries. The judge emphasised that the Act’s mandate leaves no room for police discretion at the registration stage when the complaint discloses a cognizable offence. Whether the land is indeed assignment land, whether alienation is void, and what relief is available are questions for investigation and civil adjudication, the court held, but the threshold duty to register an FIR cannot be bypassed.

"The law does not permit public authorities to filter the grievance through a civil-dispute prism at the threshold. The mandate is to register, investigate, and then decide not to screen out by an informal enquiry," Justice Gowri observed. 

Rejecting the officers’ argument that sanction under Section 197 CrPC was necessary before proceeding against them, Justice Gowri held that sanction is examined only at the stage of cognizance, not at the pre-investigation stage. A direction to register an FIR does not amount to taking cognizance. Court added that neglect of statutory duties under a special enactment like the SC/ST Act is not an act performed in the discharge of official duties so as to attract protection at the FIR stage.

The plea that Section 4(2) of the Act requires a departmental enquiry or recommendation before criminal proceedings can begin was also dismissed. The judge held that departmental measures and criminal law operate independently, and the statute does not impose any such precondition for FIR registration.

Justice Gowri further found that the complainant had already approached the police, satisfying the requirement under Section 154(1) CrPC, and only after denial of FIR did he move the Special Court under Section 156(3). The judge observed that the Special Court had applied its mind and passed a reasoned order, consistent with the principles laid down by the Supreme Court in Priyanka Srivastava.

Upholding the Special Court’s decision, Justice Gowri directed that if an FIR has not yet been registered, the jurisdictional police must do so immediately on the complainant’s grievance. It also ordered that the investigation be transferred to a competent officer other than the DSP who had earlier closed the complaint as a civil matter, and instructed that the probe be completed preferably within eight weeks. She clarified that she had expressed no opinion on the civil title dispute, which will be decided independently.

Case Title: Suriya and Another vs Gandhi and Another

Order Date: November 20, 2025

Bench: Justice L. Victoria Gowri