The statutory bar against anticipatory bail under the special legislation applies if a prima facie case exists. Knowledge of a victim's caste can be legally presumed based on acquaintance, and an incident occurring in the presence of others is considered to have taken place within public view.

JUDGMENT :

A. BADHARUDEEN, J.

This appeal is at the instance of the sole accused in Crime No.268/2026 of Sooranadu Police Station, Kollam, seeking the following prayer:

“To set aside Annexure A3 order and grant an order of pre-arrest bail in F.I.R.No.268/2026 of Sooranadu Police Station, directing the Investigating Officer therein to release the petitioner on bail, in the event of his arrest, in the interest of justice.”

2. Heard the learned counsel for the appellant/accused and the learned Public Prosecutor in detail and also heard the learned counsel appearing for the de facto complainant, who is the victim.

3. In this case, the prosecution alleges commission of offences punishable under Sections 126(2), 296(b), 115(2), 118(1) and 117(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (for short, ‘the BNS’ hereinafter) and under Sections 3(1)(s) and 3(2)(va) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (for short, ‘the SC/ST (POA) Act’ hereinafter), by the appellant/accused.

4. The prosecution case is that, at about 9.00 p.m. on 15.02.2026, the appellant/accused who does not belong to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe community, abused the de facto complainant, who belongs to Scheduled Caste community, by calling his caste name, while he was standing in front of Thavanoorkavu Temple at Ambalathumbhagom in Poruvazhy Village, while watching the festival program. Thereafter, the appellant/accused wrongfully restrained the de facto complainant in front of SBI and abused him by using filthy words and beat on his forehead and left ear by using an iron bangle. Then, the appellant/accused kicked on the chest of the de facto complainant and when the de facto complainant fell down, the appellant/accused kicked and pressed on his right leg causing fracture on the right great toe and thereby, committed the above offences.

5. The learned counsel for the appellant/accused argued that, in this case, apart from the offences under the SC/ST (POA) Act, all other offences are bailable and, insofar as the offences under Sections 3(1)(s) and 3(2)(va) of the SC/ST (POA) Act are concerned, going by the FIS given by the de facto complainant two days after the occurrence, viz., on 17.02.2026 (the date of occurrence being 15.02.2026), any personal knowledge regarding the caste of the de facto complainant could be found prima facie and therefore, the said offences are not made out prima facie. According to the learned counsel, in the statement of the de facto complainant, the appellant/accused was a resident of Ambalathumbhagom also is incorrect and that would show that the caste identity of the de facto complainant was not known to the appellant/accused and therefore, none of the offences under the SC/ST (POA) Act is made out prima facie and in such view of the matter, the bar under Section 18 of the SC/ST (POA) Act, has no application in the present case. Therefore, the learned counsel pressed for grant of anticipatory bail to the appellant/accused after upsetting the order impugned.

6. The de facto complainant appeared through counsel and filed a written objection. Paragraph Nos.2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9 of the objection are relevant and the same are extracted hereunder:

“2. It is submitted that, on 15.02.2026 while watching the festival in front of the Thavanoorkavu Temple, at about 9 pm, I was abused by the accused, who called me by my caste name in a filthy manner, further towards the incident, I was wrongfully restrained by the accused in front of SBI Bank Sasthamnada, wherein the appellant abused me using filthy words, and brutally assaulted me in front of several persons including my own sister.

3. The allegations raised by the appellant are herein denied, and are even false and misleading, the intend of which being to eva