HYDERABAD: In a relief to YSR Congress president YS Jaganmohan Reddy and party spokesperson Ambati Rambabu, the Hyderabad High Court recently quashed the cases registered against both of them at Gandhi Nagar police station in Hyderabad in 2011. Justice P Keshava Rao was allowing the petitions filed by Jagan and Ambati challenging the cases registered against them for the offence under Section 3(1)(x) of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities Act), 1989 (intentionally insults or intimidates with intent to humiliate a member of a SC or ST in any place within public view).
On September 21, 2011, police registered the case against Jagan and Ambati based on a complaint from respondent S Venkata Swamy, leader of Telangana Communist Party, alleging that the followers and party workers of the petitioners removed the tent erected by him to stage dharna at Indira Park demanding formation of Telangana state, and erected their tents as part of their hunger strike. On questioning, the said leaders had allegedly criticised and abused him, calling his caste name. Senior counsel C Nageshwar Rao, appearing for the petitioners, contended that the petitioners were innocent and have not committed any offence as alleged by the complainant.
In fact, they were implicated at the instance of their political rivals to harass them, he pointed out.The public prosecutor submitted that the police have enquired into the case and found that the petitioners or anybody had not removed the tents of the respondent's party. Besides, the contents in the complaints were bald in nature and no specific allegations particularly attracting the basic ingredients of Section 3(i)(x) of the Act were made out, he noted.On the other hand, the counsel for Venkata Swamy said that the crime was at the stage of investigation, and therefore, the proceedings initiated cannot be quashed at this stage.
After hearing both sides and perusing the material on record, the judge found that there was no allegation of abusing the respondent with caste name. Further, there was no specific allegation as to when the said allegations were made, whether anybody were present and whether it was in public view or not, were not mentioned, the judge pointed out.Relying on a previous judgment of the high court in the case of P Anand Rao and others vs State of AP and another, the judge made it clear that unless specific allegations were made with regard to attracting basic ingredients of Section 3(1)(x) of the Act, the proceedings were liable to be quashed.
Provisions of the Act would get attracted only when an alleged incident occurs in any place within public view.Justice Keshava Rao allowed the petitions saying that the above section of the Act gets attracted only when the incident takes place either in a private place or in public place but the same should be in public view.