A Single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court observed that the National Commission for Scheduled Castes cannot launch an investigation under Article 338 of the Constitution into a false complaint or unsubstantiated allegations. The court also stated that the commission is only authorized to launch an investigation when a member of a scheduled caste establishes a prima facie case that he has been ill-treated or discriminated against solely because he belongs to that class.

The High Court further held that every violation of a member of Schedule Class's perceived civil rights would not justify the Commission assuming jurisdiction.

"The Commission is constitutionally empowered to enquire and investigate into instances of deprivation of rights of the Scheduled Castes/Tribes. That presupposes that the action complained of is founded on an allegation that a member of that particular class was discriminated against or arbitrarily dealt with solely on account of his social status,"

Justice Yashwant Verma noted that the complainant must establish a prima facie case against the alleged accused company that the action was done in bad faith or was motivated by the fact that he belonged to a particular section.

The Court further observed that the complaint itself came to be made almost six years after the services of the petitioner had come to be terminated. This was thus a factor which should have necessarily weighed with the Commission before it proceeded to initiate an enquiry.

Further allowing the writ petition, the Supreme Court quashed the complaint filed against the petitioner company "The writ petition is accordingly allowed. All proceedings pertaining to the complaint registered as No. B-6/UP-53/2018/SSW-II shall consequently stand quashed"

Background

The complaint was filed by an engineer working for the company, whose services were terminated a year after he was confirmed on April 9, 2011, upon completion of the training period. The complaint, however, was filed on July 8, 2018, six years after his services were terminated.

The complaint claimed that the company began harassing him because he belonged to the SC community, despite the fact that he continued to perform his duties effectively. It was also claimed that his services were terminated without any explanation or fault.

Having taken cognizance of the complaint, the Commission summoned the Uttar Pradesh government's Principal Secretary (Power) and the company's Vice President (Technical). Following that, the company filed an appeal with the High Court.

Case Title: Torrent Power Limited V. National Commission for Scheduled Castes & Ors.

Citation: W.P. (C) 2789/2019, CM APPL. 12907/2019