The Supreme Court held that merely mentioning a caste name without intent to insult does not attract the SC/ST Act. It said allegations must show caste-based abuses or that the caste name was hurled as an abuse, in fact.
The Allahabad High Court has sought an explanation from a Trial Judge in Aligarh for summoning an accused under a non-existent provision of the SC/ST Act, highlighting a potential violation of the fundamental right to personal liberty under Article 21, pointing casual exercise of judicial power.
The Supreme Court has granted interim protection from arrest to a man accused of assaulting and molesting a woman on a Delhi flyover in a case involving serious allegations under the SC/ST Act, while directing him to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
Advocate Anil Mishra and three others, accused of burning Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s picture in Gwalior, faced the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which adjourned their bail hearing and summoned the case diary, while the government sought more time.
The Calcutta High Court ruled that caste-based abuse made over a phone call does not attract the SC/ST Act. The decision came while hearing Nurul Aras’ anticipatory bail plea under Section 482, seeking protection from FIR charges.
The Patna High Court ruled that the SC/ST Act cannot block anticipatory bail when caste-based abuse is not alleged to have occurred in public view. Finding the dispute purely civil, the Court granted protection to the accused.
The Madras High Court slammed police officers for refusing to register an FIR on an SC man’s land complaint by wrongly calling it a civil dispute. The court ruled that SC/ST Atrocities Act mandates compulsory FIR registration and ordered swift investigation.
The Supreme Court ruled that the word “bastard” is not a caste-based slur, criticizing police for wrongly invoking the SC/ST Act. The Court granted anticipatory bail, noting no caste insult was mentioned in the FIR.
Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Singh Kapur and Rohtak police chief Narendra Bijarnia have been named in an FIR for abetment to suicide and SC/ST Act violations following IPS officer Y Puran Kumar’s death. His wife claims years of caste-based harassment by senior officers drove him to take his life.
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale has demanded strict action under the SC/ST Act against the 71-year-old man who tried to throw a shoe at Chief Justice of India Bhushan Gavai. The minister said the attack was caste-motivated, as Gavai belongs to the Dalit community.
