The Karnataka High Court refused to quash a complaint against the accused who allegedly abused a Dalit for owning a resort and threatened to kill him if he continued to run the business. Justice K Natarajan noted that while the two accused who belonged to the same community as the complainant cannot be charged under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the rest of the charges were made out against them and the other accused should be tried under the special Act.
The accused were harassing the complainant who owned the resort and picked up a quarrel with him and even abused him. They threatened the complainant for vacating the resort, trying to interfere with the possession. The complainant even had an injunction with regard to the property. The complainant and other witnesses stated in the complaint that the accused while abusing him, said that he is a stone cutter and he should do the work of cutting stone and not do business, or else they will murder him.
The petitioners were pleading for discharge of the complaint against them. The FIR was lodged not just under IPC but also under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The petitioners contended that charges framed under the SC/ST Cat are not correct and hence prayed for quashing the proceedings.
The court held that Accused no 3 and 4 belong to the same community as the complainant and hence charges under the SC/ST Act cannot be invoked against them; however the same are justified against the other accused. The court also noted that the accused came together at the resort and picked up a quarrel and abused the complainant by taking the name of his caste in the presence of others and hence the accused cannot be discharged.
In conclusion, the court observed,
“it is unfortunate to note that despite the completion of 75 years of independence of India the downtrodden people were not able to do any business equal to that of any other business people who were said to be in the upper caste. The other caste people are still doing atrocity over the person who is trying to lead a happy life and to keep up the life and liberty on par with the other people.”
The court noted that the offence committed by the accused not only “affects the right of business as guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution but also life and liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The order may be read here:
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