The Calcutta High Court has ruled that caste-based abuses made over the phone, not in public view, do not fall under the stringent provisions of the SC/ST Act. Justice Jay Sengupta, in a case for anticipatory bail, noted that since the allegations were related to abuses over a phone call, the necessary elements of the SC/ST Act were not established at the prima facie stage.
The court stated that as the alleged abuses occurred over the telephone and not in public, the special Act’s provisions would not be applicable at the prima facie level, making the anticipatory bail application unsustainable. The judge was handling an anticipatory bail plea under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, where the petitioner argued that there was no case under the SC/ST Act and that the other offenses mentioned in the FIR were bailable.
Despite the prosecution presenting the case diary and witness statements, the court deemed this a unique situation where, besides the special Act, the other accusations were bailable. Considering all aspects, Justice Sengupta resolved the anticipatory bail request by allowing the petitioner to surrender before the appropriate court and apply for regular bail within four weeks.
The bench instructed that if the petitioner seeks bail within the specified period, the application will be reviewed as per the law, ensuring that the petitioner remains free from arrest during this four-week duration. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court, in a different case, clarified that using caste-based insults within the confines of a public official’s chambers, where the public is absent, does not constitute an offense under the SC/ST Act, leading to the dismissal of criminal proceedings related to such accusations.
