All insulting remarks against SC/ST not offence until they are targeted: Supreme Court

Nov. 6: The Supreme Court on Thursday has maintained that all insulting remarks made to a person belonging to Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes will not be an offence under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. A bench comprising Justices L. Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupta and Ajay Rastogi said: “All insults or intimidations to a person will not be an offence under the Act unless such insult or intimidation is on account of victim belonging to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe.”

The apex court said that “all insults or intimidations to a person will not be an offence under the SC/ST Act unless such insult or intimidation is on account of victim belonging to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe”. It added that an offence under the SC/ST Act would be made out when a member of the vulnerable section of the Society is subjected to “indignities, humiliations and harassment” in any place within public view.

The judgment came on an appeal against an Uttarakhand High Court order, which dismissed a plea filed by one Hitesh Verma under Section 482 of the CrPC seeking quashing of a chargesheet and summoning order against him for an offence under Section 3(1)(r) of the SC/ST Act. An FIR was filed against him for entering the house of the respondent and hurling casteist abuses.

The bench noted that as per the FIR, the allegations of abuse were within the four walls of the building and there was no member of the public (not merely relatives or friends) at the time of the incident in the house. “Therefore, the basic ingredient that the words were uttered ‘in any place within public view’ is not made out,” said the top court.