VILAS PANDURANG PAWAR & ANR. vs STATE OF MAHARASHTRA & ORS.

The Supreme Court held that Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, which provides for anticipatory bail, is not applicable to offenses 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, thereby denying the petitioners' request for anticipatory bail. Consequently, the Court upheld the decisions of the lower courts rejecting the anticipatory bail applications of the petitioners.