Bengaluru: State High Court has stated that the hurling of casteist abuse must be made in a public place for it to be considered an offence under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act).
The alleged incident occurred in 2020 wherein one Rithesh Pias had allegedly made casteist abuse against Mohan while he was working with the others. All the workers were employed by the building’s owner.
The Court quashed a case as it observed that the alleged abuse was made in a basement of a building, where the victim and his co-workers were alone.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna pronouncing the verdict stated this observation. One, the basement of the building was not a place of public view and two, only persons who claim to be present were the complainants.
Further, the Court also observed that the accused Pias had a dispute with the building owner and had obtained a stay against the building construction. Therefore, the court came to a conclusion that the owner Jayakumar Nair was firing at Pias through his employee, Johan.
Also, in the Sessions Court in Mangaluru where the case was pending, apart from the Atrocities Act, Pias was also charged under Section 323 (Voluntarily Causing Hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The High Court also dismissed the charges.
