PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has rejected a petition that challenged the discharge of Manjiri Dhargalkar and two others in a case under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
The High Court upheld the Sessions Court’s order from December 9, 2021, stating that the lower court had rightly checked whether the basic conditions for offences under Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the Act were met. “The Sessions Court has adverted to the correct considerations of the ingredients of the provisions of Section 3(1)(r)(s) and has considered the statements of the witnesses, to correctly arrive at the conclusion that the ingredients of the offence of which the accused were charged of, did not exist. There is no infirmity in the impugned order and the same is sustained,” said Justice Valmiki Menezes.
During arguments, Additional Public Prosecutor Pravin Faldessai claimed that the Sessions Court did not properly consider the basic evidence. He pointed out that the complainant’s surname was “Gawade” and not “Gaudi” and argued that neighbours and witnesses had heard the alleged abuses, which was enough to show the offence had taken place.
However, the High Court ruled that for the offence to apply, any caste-based insult must be made in front of other people. “The utterance or insult by the accused referring to the caste of the Complainant has to be made to members of the public who are present during the incident. Mere hurling of caste-related abuses are not sufficient to bring out the ingredients of the offence and what is required is that the same should be heard or witnessed by members of the public who are within earshot of the utterance,” the Court stated.
The High Court dismissed the State’s revision petition and confirmed the Sessions Court’s order.
