The Supreme Court on Friday gave a major verdict in which the country’s apex court said that the incident of insulting any person belonging to SC / ST community without mentioning his caste will not be considered a crime under the stringent provisions of the SC / ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989. A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra gave this verdict while granting anticipatory bail to Shajan Scaria, editor of an online Malayalam news channel.
Let us tell you that a case was registered against Scaria under the SC/ST Act. It is alleged that he had called CPM MLA PV Srinijan, who comes from the SC community, a ‘mafia don’. The trial court and the Kerala High Court had refused to grant him anticipatory bail.
The court accepted the arguments of senior advocates Siddharth Luthra and Gaurav Agarwal, who appeared on behalf of the editor. The Supreme Court said, “Intentional insult or threat to a member of the SC / ST community does not create a feeling of caste-based humiliation.”
“In our opinion there is nothing prima facie to indicate that by publishing the video on YouTube, Scaria promoted feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will against members of the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes. The video has nothing to do with members of the SCs or STs in general. His target was only Srinijan,” the court said.
The bench said that the intent 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 further said, “It is not the usual insult or intimidation which is sought to be made punishable under the 1989 Act.”
Referring to the ‘Mafia Don’ reference, the bench said, “Given the reprehensible conduct and the nature of the derogatory statements made, Scaria can prima facie be said to have 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.”
