Vilas Pandurang Pawar & Anr vs State Of Maharashtra & Ors

The Supreme Court held that anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is not applicable to offences under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, as per Section 18 of the SC/ST Act. The Court emphasized that the specific allegations of caste-based abuse and assault in the complaint warranted the application of the SC/ST Act, thus denying the petitioners' request for anticipatory bail. The Court upheld the lower courts' decisions rejecting the anticipatory bail applications of the petitioners.