Atrocities Act will not apply if the abuse does not take place in public, Karnataka High Court says

Bengaluru (Karnataka) – The Karnataka High Court has given a landmark judgement on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The Court said, ‘Only if there is casteist abuse in public places, an offence under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act can be registered’. The Court has quashed a pending case in this regard.

#Karnataka high court has ruled that offences under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act will be registered only if casteist abuse happens in a public place.https://t.co/5yWK4lgNHX

— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) June 23, 2022

1. In the year 2020, the accused named Rithesh Pias made the casteist abuse against complainant Mohan in the basement of the building. Mohan had claimed that there were workers around at that time.

2. The Court said in its order that after hearing the arguments of both the parties, two factors have emerged. One was that the basement of the building was not a public place, and the other was that the only persons who claim to be present were the complainants, their friends and other staff. Hurling of abuses is clearly not in a place of public view or a public place for the Act to be get attracted in the case at hand. Action can only be taken under this Act if abuses are hurled in public places.