The Gujarat High Court has quashed offences under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in a 2019 case of alleged verbal and physical scuffle between neighbours in Ahmedabad.
The court of Justice Divyesh Joshi noted in its order on July 10 that the complainant, who belongs to a Scheduled Caste community, has grossly abused the provisions of the Act.
“The First Information Report (FIR) on hand is an indication of the extent the members of the Scheduled Castes can go to abuse the provisions of the Atrocities Act, which are otherwise meant for the protection of the underprivileged and downtrodden class of the society,” the judge said.
According to the FIR registered at Vastrapur police station in 2019, Umang Vaghela, an SC man, stated in his complaint casteist abused were hurled at him by his neighbour Samir Patel following a scuffle. As per the complaint, Patel started emptying out water drums in the apartment of Vaghela leading to an altercation. The situation escalated as Patel kicked Vaghela and allegedly hurled abuses and issued threats at him and his family members.
Relying on Supreme Court judgments, the court noted that it has been held that at the time of registration of FIR and levelling allegations under the Atrocities Act, it is necessary for the victim to mention the fact whether the accused belongs to Scheduled Caste or not, and in the absence of such basic ingredient, the provisions of the Atrocities Act would not be attracted.
The FIR was lodged for the offences of IPC sections 323, 294(KH), 506(1) and 114 and sections 3(1)R and 3(2)(v)(a) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 in.
The court held that “there cannot be a better case than the one on hand of gross abuse of the provisions of the Atrocities Act.”
In the petition moved by Patel and three other members of his family, it was submitted that there is not an iota of evidence even to remotely suggest or infer any atrocity being meted out to the complainant, Vaghela.
The prosecution, on the other hand, submitted that there is a prima facie case made out but conceded that “which kind of filthy language against the caste of the complainant being used by the applicants, have not been stated by any of the witnesses in their statements and, therefore, the basic ingredients to constitute the offence under the provisions of the Atrocities Act are not found out from the body of the complaint as well as from the statements of the witnesses.”
The court of Justice Divyesh Joshi while considering the petition, observed that “the prosecution has miserably failed to show that which kind of derogatory words were used by the applicants to humiliate or insult the complainant in public” and that in the entire body of the complaint, “the complainant has also not stated anything as regards any derogatory words being used by the applicants (accused).”
Justice Joshi, in the order stated that, “I am not able to find out anything as regards as to whether the applicants- accused belong to Scheduled Caste or not. The complainant has not mentioned anywhere in the entire body of the complaint that the applicants-accused do not belong to the Scheduled Caste.”
The judge said that considering the true and correct object of the Act coupled with the allegations levelled in the FIR as well as the statements of the witnesses, “if I still hold that the provisions of the Atrocities Act would apply, then the same will be nothing, but mockery of justice. Even the allegations levelled in the FIR itself do not attract the provisions of the Atrocities Act.”
Partly allowing the plea of the accused, the High Court quashed the offences pertaining to the Atrocities Act while the IPC offences remain.
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