The Delhi High Court has dismissed an FIR filed against an Associate Professor of Lakshmibai College regarding accusations of assault and caste-related mistreatment. The court stated that the claims of caste-based humiliation were added as an “afterthought” and did not meet the necessary criteria under the SC/ST Act. The FIR, lodged in 2021, was set aside by Justice Neena Bansal Krishna following a writ petition by Ranjit Kaur.
The incident in question occurred during a departmental meeting in August 2021, where a confrontation reportedly occurred between the petitioner and another Associate Professor. The complainant alleged that she was slapped and demeaned in front of colleagues. However, the court highlighted that the initial complaints made by the complainant did not mention any caste-based insults or humiliation based on her Scheduled Caste identity.
The court emphasized that for an offense under the SC/ST Act to be established, there must be a clear accusation that the victim was intentionally insulted or humiliated due to their caste identity. It noted that the connection between the alleged act and the victim’s caste identity must be explicitly stated in the complaint. The court also found that the allegations of casteist remarks in subsequent complaints were vague and lacked specific attribution of words.
Justice Sharma pointed out that the sections invoked in the FIR are non-cognizable and required prior approval from the Magistrate, which was not obtained. Therefore, the court ruled that the FIR could not be sustained on these grounds. Consequently, the Delhi High Court concluded that the continuation of criminal proceedings would not be legally justifiable and quashed the FIR and all related proceedings.
