In a criminal revisional application filed before the Calcutta High Court to seek quashing of the proceedings under Sections 341/323/325/307/506/34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) read with Section 3(1)(r)(s) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (SC/ST Act), a Single Judge Bench of Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta found the application to be devoid of merit and dismissed the same.
A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged based on the complaint of the de facto complainant (opposite party 2), wherein it was mentioned that on 15-05-2022, he reached near the graveyard while returning home, when the accused persons abused and insulted him by addressing him as Adivasi as well as Santhal. It was alleged that the petitioner tried to hit the complainant on the head with the intention to kill him, and upon hearing his cry, the local people rushed to the spot to save the complainant.
After the investigation, a chargesheet was filed, and the petitioner was arrested, but was subsequently released on bail. The petitioner contended that the ingredients of an offence under the SC/ST Act had not been fulfilled, as he had neither abused nor intimidated the complainant in public view.
The Court perused the case diary and stated that no serious injury had been suffered by the complainant and that the injury was minor, as the investigating officer had removed Sections 325/307 of the IPC at the time of filing the chargesheet. It was noted that the statement of the complainant and the local witness corroborated, wherein it was mentioned that he felt humiliated when the accused persons abused him near the graveyard, which the Court stated was obviously a place within public view.
The Court referred to the Supreme Court’s decision in Swaran Singh & Ors. v. State (2008) 8 SCC 435, wherein it was held that a public place would ordinarily mean a place which is owned or leased by the Government or municipality or an instrumentality of the State, and not by private persons or bodies. Based on this, the Court stated that a prima facie offence had been established under Section 3(1)(r)(s) of the SC/ST Act and that an enquiry regarding the genuineness of the allegations could not be embarked upon at the initial stage.
Lastly, the Court found that the basic ingredients of the offence under Section 3(1)(r)(s) of the Act were satisfied and held the application to be devoid of merit. Thus, the same was dismissed.
Appearances:
For Petitioner – Mr. Amarendra Chakraborty
For Respondent – Mr. Arindam Sen (Sr. Govt. Adv), Ms. Suruchi Saha
