SC/ST Act will apply only in case of casteist misbehavior in public place: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court has held that for offenses under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, casteist abuse must be done in a public place. The court dismissed the pending case against one person as it found that the alleged misbehavior was committed in the basement of a building where only the victim and her co-workers were present. In the alleged incident in the year 2020, Ritesh Payas had racistly abused Mohan in the basement of a building where he used to work with other people. Building owner Jayakumar R. Nair was hired.

Justice M. Nagaprasanna, in his judgment on June 10, observed, “A reading of the above statements will reveal two factors – one is that the basement of the building was not a public place and second, other persons who claim to be present there, Only the complainant and Jayakumar R. There were other employees of Nair or friends of the complainant.

“Explicitly uttered abuses in a public place or in public are not available to enforce the Act in the present case,” the court said. Apart from this, there were other factors also in the case, the court said. The accused Ritesh Payas had a dispute with the building owner Jayakumar Nair and he had taken an adjournment against the construction of the building. The court concluded that Nair was firing Payas with a gun on the shoulder of his employee ( Mohan ) . The court said that the issue of dispute between the two cannot be dismissed as it shows a clear link in the chain of events . Therefore , the registration of the offense itself suffers from lack of authenticity.

Apart from the Atrocities Act, Payas has also been charged under Section 323 (causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) where the case is pending in the Sessions Court in Mangaluru.

The High Court also quashed these charges, saying that the “injury must have been caused in the argument for an offense punishable under section 323 of the IPC”. The High Court in its judgment held that , in this case though Mohan ‘s wound certificate shows a simple scratch mark on the forearm of the hand and another bruise on the chest . There is no sign of bleeding. Therefore , simple scratch marks cannot be an offense under section 323 of the IPC . According to news agency PTI, while dismissing the matter pending before the trial court, the High Court said, “In the light of the above facts, when the basic elements of the offense are missing, it is necessary to continue such proceedings and the petitioner to face rigor.” To allow for coercion , criminal prosecution would be wholly unjustified , which would lead to an abuse of the process of law .