The court's decision emphasized the prima facie application of Section 3(x) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the limited scope of exercising power under Section 482 of Cr. P. C. to quash the FIR and investigation.

AMRESHWAR SAHAY, J.

( 1 ) IN this application the petitioner has prayed for quashing of the First information Report being SC/st Ranch! P. S. case No. 9 of 2003 (G. R. No. 879 of 2003) registered under Sections 147, 341, 323, 447, 504 of the Indian Penal Code as well as S. 3 (l) (x) of the Scheduled Castes and scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) act, 1989 against the petitioner and others on the written information lodged by one ganesh Ravi Das.

( 2 ) THE allegations in the F. I. R. by the informant is that he belongs to Scheduled caste (Chamar), was employed in MECON at Doranda, Ranchi. In a meeting held on 27-1-2003 in the community hall of all the employees of MECON under the Presidentship of Chairman-Cum-Managing Director. In the said meeting the informant is said to have stated that some of the employees of mecon have rented their official residence to the outsiders and thereby entry of antisocial elements in the colony has increased and therefore, inhabitants of the colony were feeling unsafe. In this regard a written complaint was submitted by the informant on 6-2-2003 to the Chairman-cum-Managing director, MECON. Because of that, those persons who had rented their official accommodation became furious against him and in that regard on 13-2-2003 at about 7. 30 a. m. informants neighbours namely the petitioner and others who were, named in the f. I. R. came to the residence of the informant and started abusing him by using the language. SALA CHAMAR HERO BANTA hai. HUMLOG APNA AWAS KIRAYA PAR legaya HAI TO TUMARA KYA PHATATA hai. HAMARA QUARTER HAI HUM KUCH bhi KAR SAKTE HAI. SAFE SAFE SUNLO yadi MECON PRABANDHAN HUMLOG PAR koi KARWAI KIA TO TUMAHARA SAB chamar BUDHI NIKAL. DENGE. Thereafter seeing the situation to be grave, the informant in order to save his life started going out on his Motor Cycle and at that moment those persons in order to kill the informant attacked him and started assaulting him with fists and legs. Seeing the occurrence the nearby people assembled there and rescued the informant. It is alleged by the informant that four persons named in the F. I. R. including the petitioner, belonged to higher caste and considering the informant to the member of the Scheduled Caste (Chamar) abused and assaulted him. It is further alleged that his son was a student of D. A. V. Jawahar Vidya Mandir, who was taking tuition from a teacher who was residing in the same block where accused persons were residing, was also prevented from taking tuition just before his examination and because of that his son failed in the examination. It is further alleged that the informant and his family members were being tortured by the accused persons only because they belonged to Scheduled Caste (Chamar ).

( 3 ) ON the basis of this written information F. I. R. was registered on 1-4-2003 and investigation was taken up by the police.

( 4 ) THE learned counsel appearing for the petitioner has firstly submitted the F. I. R. has been lodged after an inordinate delay without any sufficient explanation, therefore, delay in lodging the F. I. R. itself creates doubt on the prosecution case. It was next contended that Section 3 (x) of the Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of atrocities) Act is not attracted nor any case under the aforesaid provision is made out, from the contents of the F. I. R. even if the allegation is taken to be true in its entirety.

( 5 ) ACCORDING to the learned counsel for the petitioner, Section 3 (x) provides that whoever not being the member of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe intentionally insults or intimidates with intent to humiliate a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe, in any place within public view then only the said Section 3 (x) would apply. According to him one of the main ingredients of the said section is that insult or humiliation to a member of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe must be made in a place within the public view. Since the allegation