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The Jharkhand High Court has said that calling a tribe “tribal” will not be considered a crime under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Judge Anil Kumar Chaudhary while hearing a petition filed by Sunil Kumar said that the victim should be a member of the Scheduled Castes (SC) or Scheduled Tribes (ST) to make a case of punishable offense under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The court said that the word tribal is not used in the schedule of the Constitution of India and until the victim comes under the list of scheduled tribes mentioned in the constitution, no case can be made against the accused under the Act.
Explain that the court was hearing the petition of public servant Kumar, who challenged the FIR lodged against him at Dumka police station. The victim, who filed the FIR, claimed that she belonged to the Scheduled Tribes (ST). The victim told in the FIR that she had gone to her office to meet Kumar to make an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Kumar had allegedly refused to accept the application and called the victim a “crazy tribal”.
‘FIR recorded under SC/ST Act’
The woman also alleged that Kumar drove her out of her office and insulted her. Sunil Kumar’s lawyer Chandana Kumari argued before the court that she (Kumar) had not mentioned the special caste or tribe of the woman and used only the word “tribal”. Kumar argued that this is not a crime. He also said that FIR was registered under SC/ST Act.
The court, in its order passed on April 8, said that the process of law would be misused to continue criminal proceedings against public servant Kumar. The court quashed the action related to the FIR and the case. (Input with pti)