The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed criminal proceedings against Anand Rai, the whistleblower in the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh, holding that no case was made out against him under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
A bench of justices Sanjay Karol and N Kotiswar Singh ruled that the facts on record did not constitute any offence under the SC/ST Act and that the invocation of the stringent provisions of the 1989 law against Rai was unsustainable.
Allowing Rai’s plea, Justice Karol read out the operative part of the judgment, setting aside the proceedings that had been initiated pursuant to an order framing charges against him, which had earlier been upheld by the Madhya Pradesh high court.
The judgment brings to an end the prosecution that the Supreme Court had stayed in July 2025, when it halted the trial pending final adjudication of Rai’s challenge and expressed concern over the manner in which the SC/ST Act had been invoked.
Rai had consistently maintained that the case was a product of “malicious prosecution” aimed at silencing him for his public activism and his role in exposing the Vyapam scam.
{{/usCountry}}Rai had consistently maintained that the case was a product of “malicious prosecution” aimed at silencing him for his public activism and his role in exposing the Vyapam scam.
{{/usCountry}}Appearing for Rai, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Vivek Tankha had previously argued that none of the essential ingredients required to attract offences under the SC/ST Act were present in the complaint. It was submitted that there was no caste-specific reference, intentional insult or intimidation directed at a member of the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, as mandated by law.
They had also pointed out that the investigation was conducted by an officer below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police, in violation of Rule 7 of the SC/ST Rules, which mandates that investigations under the Act must be carried out by an officer of DSP rank or above.
In his petition, filed through advocate Sumeer Sodhi, Rai had asserted that the prosecution was not a bona fide exercise of criminal law but a tool to target him for his ideological positions and activism, which had often been critical of the government.
Rai had approached the apex court after the Madhya Pradesh high court, on July 3, 2025, declined to interfere with the trial court’s order framing charges against him in the case.
A doctor by profession, Rai is known for exposing large-scale irregularities in medical admissions in Madhya Pradesh, popularly referred to as the Vyapam scam, which later came to be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The allegations against him arose from an incident in November 2022 during the unveiling of a statue of Bhagwan Birsa Munda, a revered tribal icon. A rally organised by the Jai Adivasi Yuva Shakti (JAYS) allegedly witnessed unruly elements obstructing the convoy of elected representatives and public officials, leading to allegations of unlawful assembly, obstruction of public servants, assault and use of criminal force.