New Delhi

The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed charges framed under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against Vyapam examination scam whistleblower Anand Rai, holding that the invocation of the law was not in accordance with its scope.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and N K Singh allowed Rai’s appeal challenging a Madhya Pradesh High Court order that had upheld the framing of charges against him in a case linked to alleged caste-based abuse and violence during a public rally in 2022.

“We have examined the scope of the SC/ST Act and find that the action taken is not in accordance with law. The appeal is allowed,” the bench said while pronouncing its verdict.

Rai, an ophthalmologist from Madhya Pradesh and one of the key whistleblowers in the Vyapam recruitment and examination scam, had approached the apex court after the high court refused to interfere with the charges framed against him.

He was accused in connection with an incident that allegedly occurred on November 15, 2022, at village Dharad in Ratlam district during a programme organised to mark Birsa Munda Jayanti, where a statue of freedom fighter Birsa Munda was being unveiled.

According to the FIR lodged by one Vikas Pargi, a group of people allegedly blocked the movement of vehicles carrying a Member of Parliament, a Member of the Legislative Assembly, the district collector and other officials for nearly an hour. The complaint further alleged that the group abused the public representatives and scuffled with police personnel who tried to clear the road.

Rai was named among 40 to 45 persons in the FIR, following which a special sessions court (SC/ST Act) in Ratlam framed charges against him on March 18, 2025.

The Supreme Court had earlier, on January 13, 2023, granted bail to Rai in the case and subsequently stayed the trial proceedings under the SC/ST Act.

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Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, along with advocate Sumeer Sodhi, represented Rai before the apex court.