The Supreme Court has quashed proceedings against a school manager under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, as private slurs do not meet the statutory requirement for an offence. The decision overturns an Allahabad High Court order.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that uttering casteist slurs in a private setting does not constitute an offence under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act (SC/ST Act), as reported by Live Law. This decision overturns an Allahabad High Court order that had refused to quash proceedings against a school manager in such a case. The complainant had alleged that the school manager, along with other staff, assaulted him and shouted casteist slurs at him on January 24, 2020, during a meeting about his son's injury. The FIR was registered on charges of rioting, causing hurt, wrongful confinement, and intentional insult, as well as sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the SC/ST Act. Section 3(1)(r) makes it a crime for a person not from a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe to intentionally insult or humiliate a member of these communities in a public setting. Section 3(1)(s) punishes anyone who abuses a member of these communities by their caste name in any place within public view. The school manager challenged the proceedings in the Allahabad High Court, arguing that the incident took place in a closed room with no window and was not open to the public. The witnesses did not claim to have been present when the alleged casteist remarks were made. In April 2023, the High Court refused to interfere with the case, leading the manager to appeal to the Supreme Court. On Thursday, the Supreme Court stated that a place can be considered 'within public view' if members of the public can see or hear the alleged casteist remarks. The bench also noted that the FIR did not attribute any caste-based slurs specifically to the school manager and that the teachers' statements only mentioned an altercation and scuffle, without confirming they heard the alleged slurs. As a result, the Supreme Court quashed the proceedings against the school manager under the SC/ST Act, but the case related to other alleged offences will continue. The court clarified that the decision applies only to private settings, and public slurs remain punishable under the Act.
Source:
Scroll.in
