THE UTTAR PRADESH COMMISSION FOR THE SCHEDULED CASTES AND SCHEDULED TRIBES ACT, 1995

English — official source version

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 THE UTTAR PRADESH COMMISSION FOR THE SCHEDULED 

CASTES AND SCHEDULED TRIBES ACT, 19951 

[U. P. Act No. 16 of 1995] 

 Amended by  

U. P. Act no. 1 of 1998 

U. P. Act no. 29 of 2001 

U. P. Act no. 4 of 2002 

U. P. Act no. 41 of 2007 

U.P. Act No. 26 of 2024 

 [As passed by the Uttar Pradesh Legislature, assented to by the 

Governor on August 7, 1995 and published in U.P. Gazette 

extraordinary on August 11, 1995.] 

  

 

AN 

ACT 

to establish a Commission for the Scheduled Castes and 

Scheduled Tribes and for the matters connected therewith and incidental 

thereto. 

 IT IS hereby enacted in the Forth-sixth Year of the Republic of 

India as follows :—  

CHAPTER–1 

Preliminary 

Short title 
extent and 

comencement 

1. (1) This Act may be called the Uttar Pradesh Commission for 

the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act, 1995. 

(2) It extends to the whole of Uttar Pradesh. 

(3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on August 8, 

1994.  

Definitions 2.   In this Act—- 

(a) “Commission” means the commission constituted 

under section 3 ; 

(b) “Member” means a Member of the Commission and 

includes the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of the 

Commission. 

 CHAPTER–II 

The Uttar Pradesh Commission for the Scheduled Castes and 

Scheduled Tribes  

Constitution 
of the 
Commission  

3. (1) The State Government shall constitute a body to be 

known as the Uttar Pradesh Commission for Scheduled Castes and 

Scheduled Tribes to exercise the powers conferred on, and to perform 

the functions assigned to, it under this Act.  

Composition 
of the 

Commission  

4. 2[(1) The Commission shall consist of the following members 

appointed by the State Government :— 

—————————————————————————————————————————— 
1. For SOR see at the end of this Act. 

2. Sub. by sec. 2 of U. P. Act No. 41 of 2007. 



[The Uttar Pradesh Commission For the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes At, 1995]  

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 (a) a Chairman ; 

(b) two Vice-Chairman 

(c) seventeen other members.]1  

 (2) The Member shall be appointed from amongst persons of 

ability, integrity and standing who have had a record of selfless service 

to the cause of justice for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.  

(3) The appointments under sub-section (1) shall be made by a 

notified order.  

Term of 
office and 

conditions of 
service of 
Member  

5. 2 [(1) (a) The tenure of the Chairman, Vice-Chairman or 

member, shall be one year from the date of his assuming office. 

(b) The Chairman, Vice-Chairman or member shall hold his 

office during the pleasure of the State Government. 

(c) The Chairman shall not be eligible for reappointment as a 

member]. 

 3 [(1-A) The provisions of sub-section (1) as amended by the 

Uttar Pradesh Commission for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled 

Tribes (Amendment) Act, 2001 shall apply also to the Chairman, Vice-

Chairman and every other Member holding office immediately before 

the commencement of the said Act.  

 (1-B) The Chairman, Vice-Chairman or other Member, who has 

attained the age of sixty-five years, on or before the commencement of 

the Act referred to in sub-section (1-A), shall cease to hold office as 

such on such commencement.] 

 (2) A Member may, at any time by writing under his hand, 

addressed to the State Government, resign from his office.  

(3) The State Government shall remove a person from the officer 

of Member if that person — 

(a) becomes an undischarged insolvent ;  

 (b) is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for an 

offence which, in the opinion of the State Government involves 

moral turpitude ; 

(c) becomes of unsound mind and stands so declared by a 

competent court ; 

(d) refuses to act or becomes incapable of acting ;  

 (e) is, without obtaining leave of absence from the 

Commission absent from three consecutive meetings of the 

Commission ; or  

(f) has, in the opinion of the State Government so abused 

the position of Chairman or Member as to render that person’s 

continuance in office detrimental to the interests of the 

Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes or the public interest ; 
 

—————————————————————————————————————————— 
1. Sub. by sec. 2 of U.P. Act No. 41, 2007. 

2. Sub. by sec. 2 of U. P. Act No. 26 of 2024. 

3. Ins. by sec. 2 by of U.P. Act No. 29, 2001. 



  

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  Provided that no person shall be removed under this clause 

until he has been given an opportunity of being heard in the matter. 

(4) A vacancy caused under sub-section (2) or otherwise shall 

be filled by fresh appointment.  

(5) The salaries and allowances payable to, and other terms 

and conditions of service of, the Members shall be such as may be 

prescribed.  
 

Officers and 

other employees 
of the 
Commission  

6. (1) The State Government shall provide the Commission 

with a Secretary and such other officers and employees as may be 

necessary for the efficient performance of the functions of the 

Commission.  

 (2) The salaries and allowances payable, to, and other terms 

and conditions of service of the officers and other employees 

appointed for the purpose of the Commission shall be such as may 

be prescribed.   

Salaries and 
allowances to be  
paid out of 
grants  

7. The salaries and allowances payable to the Members and 

the administrative expenses, including salaries, allowances and 

pensions payable to the officers and other employees referred to in 

section 6, shall be paid out of the grants referred to in sub-section 

(1) of section 13. 

Vacancies etc. 

not to invalidate 
proceedings of 
the Commission  

8. No act or proceeding of the Commission shall be invalid 

on the ground merely of the existence of any vacancy of defect in 

the constitution of the Commission.  

Procedure to be 

regulated by the 
Commission 

9. (1) The Commission shall meet as and when necessary at 

such time and place as the Chairman may think fit.  

(2) The Commission shall regulate its own procedure.  

 (3) If the office of the Chairman becomes vacant or if the 

Chairman is for any reason absent or unable to discharge the 

duties of his office, those duties shall, until the new Chairman 

assumes office or the existing Chairman resumes his office, as the 

case may be, be discharged by the Vice-Chairman.   

 (4) If the offices of both Chairman and Vice-Chairman 

become vacant the duties of the office of Chairman shall be 

discharged by such Member as the State Government may, be 

order; direct.  

(5) All orders and decisions of the Commission shall be 

authenticated by the Secretary or any other officer of the 

Commission duly authorized by the Secretary in this behalf.  

State 

Government to 
consult 
Commission 

10. The State Government shall consult the Commission on 

all major policy matters affecting Scheduled Castes and Scheduled 

Tribes.  

 CHAPTER — III 

Functions and Powers of the Commission 

Duties and 

functions of the 
Commission  

11. (1) It shall be the duty of the Commission — 

(a) to investigate and monitor all matters relating to the 

safeguards provided for the Scheduled Castes and 

Scheduled Tribes under the Constitution or under any other 

law for the time being in force or under any order of the 

State Government and to evaluate the working of such 

safeguards ; 



  

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 (b) to enquire into specific complaints with respect to 

the deprivation of rights and safeguards of the Scheduled 

Castes and Scheduled Tribes ; 

 (c) to participate and advice on the planning process of 

socio-economic development of the Scheduled Castes and 

Scheduled Tribes and to evaluate the progress of their 

development;  

(d) to present to the State Government annually and at 

such other times as the Commission may deem fit, reports 

upon the working of those safeguards ;  

 (e) to make in such reports recommendations as to the 

measures that should be taken by the State Government for 

the effective implementation of those safeguards and other 

measures for the protection, welfare and socio-economics 

development of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; 

and    

 (f) to discharge such other functions in relation to the 

protection, welfare, development and advancement of the 

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as may be referred 

to it by the State Government.   

  (2) The State Government shall cause the reports of the 

Commission to be laid before each House of the State Legislature 

along with a memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed 

to be taken on the recommendations and the reasons for the non-

acceptance, if any, of any of such recommendations. 

Powers of the 

Commission 
12. The Commission shall, while investigating any matter 

referred to in clause (a) or inquiring into any complaint referred to 

in clause (b) of sub-section (1) of Section 11, have all the powers of 

a civil court trying a suit and in particular in respect of the 

following matters, namely :— 

 (a) summoning and enforcing attendance of any person and 

examining him on oath ; 

(b) requiring the discovery and production of any document; 

(c) receiving evidence on affidavits ;  

 (d) requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any 

court or office ; 

(e) issuing commission for the examination of witness and 

documents ; and  

(f) any other matter that may be prescribed.   

 1[ Provided that no person who is holding the office of the 

Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary of Secretary to the state 

Government or is Head of the Department employed in connection 

with the affairs of the State Government shall be summoned or 

required to attend in person under clause (a) unless prior approval 

of the State Government has been obtained and such person shall 

be deemed to have complied with the summons if he causes a 

person not below the rank  of Deputy  Secretary or, as the case may  

—————————————————————————————————————————— 
1. Ins. by sec. 2 of U. P. Act No. 1 of 1998. 



  

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 be, a person holding a post equivalent thereto to attend the 

Commission in compliance with the summons instead of attending in 

person ;   

 Provided further that the summons issued under clause (a) 

shall clearly indicate the purpose for which the person concerned has 

been summoned and when any person is summoned to produce a 

document without being summoned to give evidence, he shall be 

deemed to have complied with the summons if he causes such 

document to be produced instead of attending personally to produce 

the same. ]1 

  CHAPTER — IV 

Finance, Accounts and Audit 

Grants by the 

State 
Government  

13. (1) The State Government shall, after due appropriation 

made by the State Legislature by law in this behalf, pay to the 

Commission by way of grants such sums of money as the State 

Government may think fit for being utilized for the purposes of this Act.  

 (2) The Commission may spend such sums as it thinks fit for 

performing the functions under this Ordinance, and such sums shall 

be treated as expenditure payable out of the grants referred to in sub-

section (1).   

Account and 
audit  

 14. (1) The Commission shall maintain proper accounts and 

other relevant records and prepare an annual statement of accounts in 

such form as may be prescribed.  

(2) A copy of the annual statement of accounts shall be 

forwarded to the State Government which shall cause it to be audited.  

Annual 
Report  

15. The Commission shall prepare, in such form and at such 

time, for each financial year, as may be prescribed, its annual report, 

giving a full account of its activities during the previous financial year 

and forward a copy thereof to the State Government.  

Annual 
report and 

audit report 
to be laid 
before the 
State 

Legislature 

16. The State Government shall cause the annual report, 

together with a memorandum of action taken on the advice tendered 

by the Commission and the reason for the non-acceptance, if any, of 

such advice, and the audit report to be laid, as soon as may be, after 

they are received, before each House of the State Legislature.   

 CHAPTER–V 

Miscellaneous 

Chairman, 
Members and 
employees of 

the 
Commission 
to be public 
servant  

17. The Chairman, Members and employees  of the 

Commission shall be deemed to be public Servants within the meaning 

of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code ;  

Penalty  18. Whoever being legally bound to obey any order of the 

Commission under Section 12, intentionally omits to do so, shall on 

conviction be punished under Sections 174, 175, 176, 178, 179 or 180 

of Indian Penal Code, as the case may be.  

—————————————————————————————————————————— 
1. Ins. by s. 2 of U.P. Act No. 1, 1998. 



  

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Cognizance 
of offences   

19. No court shall take cognizance of an offence specified in 

Section 18 except on a complaint in writing of the Chairman or a 

Member or of an officer authorized by the Commission in this behalf.   

Protection of 
action taken 

in good faith 

20. No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie 

against any person for anything which is in good faith done or 

intended to be done, in pursuance of the provisions of this (Ordinance) 

Act or the rules made thereunder. 

Power of the 

State 
Government 
to issue 

directions  

 1[20-A. The State Government may issue such directions to 

the Commission as may be considered necessary or proper for carrying 

out the purposes of the Act and the Commission shall be bound to 

comply with such directions.]  

Power to 
make rules  

21. (1) The State Government may, by notification, make rules 

for carrying out the purposes of this (Ordinance) Act. 

(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the 

foregoing powers, such rules may provide for all or any of the following 

matters, namely :— 

 (a) salaries and allowances payable to, and the other terms 

and conditions of service of, the Members under sub-section (5) 

of Section 5 and the officers and other employees under sub-

section (3) of Section 6; 

(b) any other matter under clause (f) of Section 12 ; 

 (c) the form in which the annual statement of accounts 

shall be prepared under sub-section (1) of Section 14 ; 

(d) the form in which and the time at which the annual 

report shall be prepared under Section 15 ; 

(e) any other matter which is required to be, or may be 

prescribed.  

Power to 

remove 
difficulties  

22. (1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of 

this Act the State Government may, by a notified order, make such 

provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act as appears 

to it to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty.  

(2) No order under sub-section (1) shall be made after the 

expiry of a period of two years from the date of commencement of this 

Act.  

 (3) Every order made under sub-section (1) shall, as soon as 

may be after it is made, be laid before both Houses of the State 

Legislature and, the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 23-A of 

Uttar Pradesh General Clauses Act, 1904 shall apply as they apply in 

respect of rules made by the State Government under any Uttar 

Pradesh Act.  

Repeal and 
saving  

23. (1) The Uttar Pradesh Commission for the Scheduled 

Castes and Scheduled Tribes Ordinance, 1995 is hereby repealed.  

—————————————————————————————————————————— 
1. Ins. by sec. 3  of U. P. Act No. 1 of 1998. 



  

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 (2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any section 

taken under the provisions of the Ordinance referred to in sub-section 

(1) or of the Uttar Pradesh Commission for the Scheduled Castes and 

Scheduled Tribes Ordinance, 1994 or the Uttar Pradesh Commission 

for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Second) Ordinance, 

1994 shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the provisions 

of this Act as if the provisions of this Ordinance were in force at all 

material times.    

                                                                                                             

——— 

 

STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS 

The Commissioner, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, was appointed by 

an executive order of the State Government to safeguard the interests of the Scheduled 

Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the State but for want of legal status, the 

Commissioner could not function effectively. It was, therefore, decided to enact a law to 

provide for the establishment of a Commission for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled 

Tribes in the State, on the pattern of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes 

and Scheduled Tribes. The functions of the Commission, inter alia are to investigate all 

matters relating to the safeguards provided for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled 

Tribes under the constitutions or under any other law or under any order of the State 

Government and to make recommendations to the State Government for the effective 

implementation of those safeguards and other measures for the proportion welfare and 

socio-economic development of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. 

Since the State Legislature was not in session and immediate legislative action 

to implement the aforesaid decision was necessary, the Uttar Pradesh Commission for 

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Ordinance, 1994 (U.P. Ordinance no. 14 of 

1994) was promulgated by the Governor on August 8, 1994. 

This Bill is introduced accordingly to replace the aforesaid Ordinance.