Not just uttering caste name, but intent to humiliate is essential to bring charges under SC/ST Act: Orissa High Court

The Orissa High Court has delivered a verdict that says suddenly uttering a caste name amid a heated exchange is not sufficient to establish an offence under Prevention of Atrocities (SC/ST) Act. The judge said that unless there is an intent to humiliate the victim belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) community, the person can’t be punished, The Hindu reported.

The judgement was passed on March 1 by a single-judge bench of Justice R K Pattanaik while quashing the charges against two accused under SC/ST Act. The court also said that there is a need to test the accused for other charges.

The case was registered in 2017. It notes that the complainant had got involved in a fight while returning home where he was abused and assaulted by the accused persons. According to the complainant, the casteist slurs were used amid a fight by the accused.

The high court noted that the alleged victim was himself not the complainant in the case. “If someone is abused with the name of his caste or the caste is uttered suddenly in course of events and during the incident, in the humble view of the Court, by itself would not be sufficient to hold that any offence under the SC and ST (PoA) Act is made out unless the intention is to insult or humiliate the victim for the reason that he belongs to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe is prima facie established,” the high court ruled.

Justice Pattanaik also referred to the Supreme Court’s judgement in the Hitesh Verma Vs State of Uttarakhand and another, where the intent to humiliate based on their caste was a prerequisite for bringing charges under the sections of the SC/ST Act.