New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that defamatory remarks made against a person belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the absence of a witness inside the walls of the house is not a crime. Simultaneously, the apex court quashed the charges leveled against a person under the SC / ST Act. The man allegedly made abusive comments about a woman inside the house.
The court said that insulting or threatening a person would not be an offense under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act. Unless such insult or threat is due to the victim belonging to SC or ST. The Supreme Court said that under SC and ST law, a crime will be considered when a member of the weaker section of the society has to face indecency, humiliation and harassment in front of people at a certain place.
Appeal in the Supreme Court – Fast track court case against existing tainted MPs-MLAs
A bench of Justice L Nageshwar Rao, Justice Hemant Gupta, and Justice Ajay Rastogi said, “In view of the facts, we find that there are no charges against the appellant under Section 3 (1) (r) of the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Are formed. The charge sheet is therefore quashed. ‘
The bench cited a 2008 decision that differentiated between insults in society and remarks made in a closed space. The court said, “The judgment then made it clear that if the crime was committed outside the building, such as on the lawn of a house, on the balcony or outside the boundary, from where anyone saw or heard coming and going, it was considered a public place. Will go. ‘
Supreme Court challenges Allahabad HC’s order on conversion, says ‘wrong precedent’ in petition
The bench said that other offenses against Hitesh Verma would be heard separately by the competent courts as per the law of FIR.
