The power of quashing of a criminal proceeding should be exercised sparingly and in rarest of rare cases, and the court is not expected to express any views on the merits related to the realm of appreciation of evidence to decide the credibility of the case put forward.

JUDGMENT :

(Prayer: This Criminal Original Petition is filed under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, to quash the final report filed in Spl.C.C.No.1 of 2020 before the Special Court No.1 for trial of Criminal Cases related to MP's and MLA of Tamil Nadu, Chennai.)

1. This Criminal Original Petition has been filed to quash the proceedings against the petitioner in C.C.No.1 of 2020 on the file of the Special Court No.1 for Trial of Criminal Cases related to MP's and MLA of Tamil Nadu, Chennai.

2. The brief facts leading to the filing of the charge sheet, are as follows:

Pursuant to the FIR dated 12.03.2020 registered by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Teynampet Police Station, the petitioner was charged for the offence under Sections 3(1)(u) and 3(1)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (for the sake of brevity hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'). It is the allegation of the prosecution that the petitioner belonging to Dravidian Progressive Federation (DMK), political party and a well known leader, on 15.02.2020 had organized an event namely, Kalaignar Vaasagar Vattaram. In the said function, the accused and the other leaders of the party had addressed the audience of more than 100 numbers consisting of party member, media and general public. The accused made disrespectful remarks on the members of oppressed class stating that the appointment of Hon'ble MR.JUSTICE A.Varadharajan, who belongs to lower caste, and other 7 or 8 appointments of lower caste judges of High Court, were at the alms rendered by the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Besides, he has also made a statement that even one single harijan was not made as High Court judge in Mathyapradhesh, however, in Tamil Nadu 7 or 8 members of the Schedule Caste were made as High Court Judges by the alms rendered by the Dravidian Progressive Federation. Based on the FIR lodged by one Kalyana Sundaram, investigation was conducted and final report has been laid by the Deputy Superintendent of Police for the offence under Sections 3(1)(u) and 3(1)(v) of the Act.

3. The prosecution has examined as many as 30 witnesses and recorded their statements and final report has been taken on file in C.C.No.1 of 2020. To quash the said proceedings, this petition has been filed.

4. The learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner mainly contended that there is an inordinate delay in filing the complaint and such delay is with mala fide intention. The Defacto complainant selectively extracts few lines from the speech of the petitioner. Further, the entire materials collected by the prosecution would not prove the offence under Sections 3(1)(u) and 3(1)(v) of the Act and the entire prosecution has been made due to political animosity with an mala fide intention, since the petitioner belongs to different political party. The petitioner has simply thought to give credit for the appointment of Judges among the members of the Scheduled Caste. His remarks were not intended to disrespect the Hon'ble Retired Mr.Justice A.Varadharajan or any other Hon'ble Judges. Hence, the speech of the petitioner should not be construed to mean that he has insulted or humiliated other Judges of the Schedule Caste or the members of the Scheduled Caste. Hence, it is the contention that the petitioner being a Member of Parliament and also a leader of Dravidian Progressive Federation, he did not commit any such offence. Hence, prayed for quashing of the FIR.

5. In respect of his submission, he placed reliance on the judgment of the Hon'ble Apex court in Hitesh Varma Vs. The State of Uttarakhand and another [Criminal Appeal No.707 of 2020].

6. The learned Public Prosecutor appearing for the first respondent submitted that the entire speech of the petitioner not only disrespects the Judges from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, but also insulted the other members of the Scheduled Caste. His entire allegations when read together, the same lead to th