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J. B. PARDIWALA, ALOK ARADHE
Keshaw Mahto @ Keshaw Kumar Mahto – Appellant
Versus
State Of Bihar – Respondent
Certainly. Based on the provided legal document, here are the key points:
The offence under the relevant sections of the SC/ST Act requires that the accused's insult or intimidation be with the intention to humiliate a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, and that such acts be done in public view. Merely knowing that the complainant belongs to a Scheduled Caste or Tribe is insufficient to establish the offence unless the insult or intimidation is specifically motivated by caste-based intent and is demonstrably denigrating (!) (!) (!) (!) (!) (!) (!) (!) (!) .
For an offence under the SC/ST Act, it is necessary that the abuse be explicitly linked to the caste name and that the content of the abuse or conduct must reveal caste-based humiliation. The intent behind the abuse must be to denigrate the caste, leading to a feeling of caste-based humiliation. Simply mentioning caste names without such intent does not constitute an offence (!) (!) (!) .
The factual record must clearly demonstrate that the acts were motivated by caste-based hostility or intent to humiliate. In the case at hand, there was no evidence suggesting the acts were motivated by caste-based animus, and the allegations did not specify any insult or intimidation with the purpose of humiliating the complainant due to caste. Therefore, the allegations did not prima facie satisfy the essential elements of the offences under the SC/ST Act (!) .
Regarding general criminal offences, the allegations against the appellant were found to be vague and did not meet the essential criteria for participation in the alleged offences. Mere presence at the scene was insufficient to establish involvement in the commission of the offences (!) .
Based on these findings, the court concluded that proceeding with trial against the appellant would constitute a miscarriage of justice. Consequently, the order of the High Court was set aside, and the criminal prosecution against the appellant was quashed (!) .
The court emphasized that the act of insulting or abusing by caste name must be accompanied by a specific intent to denigrate and must be demonstrably caste-based to attract the relevant provisions. Without such intent and evidence, the offences cannot be established (!) .
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ORDER
1. Leave granted.
2. This appeal arises from the order passed by the High Court of Judicature at Patna dated 15.02.2025 in Criminal Appeal (SJ) No. 112 of 2023, by which the appeal preferred by the appellant herein seeking to challenge the legality and validity of the cognizance and summoning order dated 09.10.2020 passed by the trial court came to be dismissed.
3. It appears from the materials on record that the appellant herein went before the High Court praying for the following relief:-
4. The case of the prosecution in brief is that on the date of the incident, the original First Informant was sitting alongwith his friend at the Aanganwadi Center situated at Santhali Tola. At that point of time, the accused persons came over there and started abusing the First Informant. It is alleged that some a
Insult and abuse by caste name – Intent with which abuses were hurled must be found to be denigrating towards caste, resulting into feeling of caste-based humiliation.
Cognizance under the SC/ST Act cannot be sustained if the informant is not a member of Scheduled Caste or if the involvement is merely circumstantial related to civil disputes.
Assault and abuse in public view – Public view is an essential ingredient to constitute offence under Section 3(1) (s) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
The court upheld that a prima facie case is sufficient for cognizance under the SC/ST Act, emphasizing that detailed evidence analysis is not required at this stage.
The judgment established the principle that for an offence under the SC/ST Act, insults or intimidations must be targeted at the victim because of their scheduled caste or tribe status, and the conte....
The court ruled that allegations of caste-based abuse in public view under the SC & ST Act cannot be quashed without trial, emphasizing the need for intent to humiliate linked to caste identity.
Section 3(1)(r) of the SC and ST Act makes it manifest that mere insult or intimidation with an intention to humiliate a member of Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe by itself is not made an offence.....
(1) Casteist abuses and criminal intimidation – Place of occurrence must be one “within public view” which is a sine qua non for making out offence under SC/ST Act.(2) Quashing of criminal case – Con....
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