LUCKNOW: In a significant observation, the Allahabad High Court held that a person’s Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe status alone could not attract the provisions of the SC/ST Act, saying that all essential ingredients of the offence must be established before the Act can be invoked.
The HC made the observations while quashing criminal proceedings against the accused insofar as the charges under the SC/ST Act were concerned.
The dispute was related to a property transaction, but the provisions of the SC/ST Act were invoked solely because the complainant belonged to a Scheduled Caste.
Partly allowing the criminal appeal filed by Raju Kuraishi and four other accused, Justice Santosh Rai said, “As far as the offence under the SC/ST Act is concerned, there is no material in the FIR lodged at Loni police station in Ghaziabad or case diary to indicate that the accused applicants used any caste-based words or abused, insulted or humiliated the victim on the ground of his belonging to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe. Admittedly, the dispute between the parties essentially arises from a transaction concerning the sale of the disputed property.”
In a ruling delivered on September 8, the HC directed that the accused be discharged of the offences under the SC/ST Act, while modifying the order of the special judge, SC/ST Act, Ghaziabad, to that extent.
However, the High Court made it clear that the criminal proceedings would continue insofar as the other offences, such as cheating, were concerned.