Insult without mentioning caste is not under the purview of SC-ST Act, Supreme Court told when and in which crime the law will be applicable

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday delivered an important verdict in a case related to the SC or ST community. The apex court said that insulting or humiliating a person, without indicating his/her caste, tribe or the concept of untouchability, would not be an offence under the stringent provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra gave this decision while granting interim bail to Shajan Sakaria, editor of an online Malayalam news channel. Sakaria was booked under the SC/ST Act for calling CPM MLA PV Srinijan, who belongs to the SC/ST community, a ‘mafia don’. he/she was also denied pre-arrest bail by the trial court and the Kerala High Court.

The Supreme Court accepted the arguments

The Supreme Court accepted the arguments of senior advocates Siddharth Luthra and Gaurav Agrawal, appearing for the editor, and said that not every deliberate insult or intimidation of a member of the SC/ST community would create a feeling of caste-based insult. The bench said that in our view, there is nothing even prima facie to indicate that the appellant (Sakariya), by publishing the video on YouTube, promoted or attempted to promote feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will against members of the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes. The video has nothing to do with members of SC or ST in general. his/her target was only the complainant (Srinijn) alone.

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What was written in the decision?

Writing the 70-page judgment, Justice Pardiwala said that it is only in cases where the intentional insult or intimidation is due to the prevalent practice of untouchability or to reinforce historically established ideas of superiority of ‘upper castes’ over ‘lower castes/untouchables’. These include notions of ‘purity’ and ‘pollution’ etc., that it can be said to be an insult or intimidation of the kind envisaged by the 1989 Act.

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The bench said the intention to insult has to be understood in the broader context in which the concept of insult to marginalised groups has been understood by various scholars. The bench said it is not ordinary insult or intimidation that would amount to ‘insult’, which is sought to be made punishable under the 1989 Act.

punishable offence of defamation

Referring to the ‘Mafia Don’ reference, the bench said that considering the outrageous conduct and the nature of the defamatory statements made, the appellant (Sakariya) can at best be said to have prima facie committed the offence of defamation punishable under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code. If that is so, it is always open for the complainant to prosecute the appellant accordingly.

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However, the complainant (Srinijn) could not invoke the provisions of the 1989 Act merely on the ground that he/she was a member of the Scheduled Caste, more so, when a prima facie combined reading of the transcript of the video and the complaint does not reveal that the actions of the appellant were motivated by the caste identity of the complainant.