 bill no 140 of  2018 the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes (prevention of atrocities) amendment bill, 2018 a billfurther to amend the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes(prevention of atrocities) act, 1989be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-ninth year of the republic of india as follows:—2 after section 18 of the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes (prevention of atrocities) act, 1989, the following section shall be inserted, namely:—insertion of new section 18a33 of 1989"18a (1) for the purposes of this act,—no enquiry or approval required5(a) preliminary enquiry shall not be required  for registration of a firstinformation report against any person; or(b) the investigating officer shall not  require  approval for the arrest, ifnecessary, of any person,against whom an accusation of having committed an offence under this act has been made and no procedure other than that provided under this act or the code shall apply10(2) the provisions of section 438 of the code shall not apply to a case under this act, notwithstanding any judgment or order or direction of any court" statement of objects and reasonsthe scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes (prevention of atrocities) act, 1989(said act) was enacted with a view to prevent the commission of offences of atrocities against the members of the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes and to provide for special courts and exclusive special courts for the trial of such offences and for the relief and rehabilitation of the victims of such offences the said act was amended in 2015 with an objective to deliver greater justice to members of the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes2 in a recent judgment, the supreme court has held that a preliminary enquiry shall be conducted by a deputy superintendent of police to find out whether allegations make out a case under the said act before registering a first information report relating to commission of an offence and the approval of an appropriate authority shall be obtained before arrest of any person in connection with such offence3 however, the provisions of the code of criminal procedure, 1973 provide that every information relating to commission of an offence, if given, shall be recorded and where the investigating officer has reason to suspect the commission of an offence, he can arrest a person and there is no requirement of conducting a preliminary enquiry before recording of any such information or obtaining of an approval from any authority before arresting any person moreover, such preliminary enquiry and approval would only delay the filing of a charge sheet4  the  principles of criminal jurisprudence and section 41 of the code of criminal procedure, 1973 as interpreted in several judgments, implies that once the investigating officer has reasons to suspect that an offence has been committed, he can arrest an accused this decision to arrest or not to arrest cannot be taken away from the investigating officer5 in view of the above, it is expedient in the public interest that the provisions of the code of criminal procedure, 1973 be made applicable in respect of registration of first information report relating to commission of an offence or arrest of any person without any preliminary enquiry or approval of any authority, as the case may be6 the bill seeks to achieve the above objectsnew delhi;thaawar chand gehlotthe 2nd august, 2018———— a billfurther to amend the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes (prevention of atrocities) act, 1989————(shri thaawar chand gehlot, minister of social justice and empowerment)