High Court held that the alleged insult happened not in public view but over a phone call, hence FIR and Charge framing is quashed
Pardeep Kumar Vs State of Haryana and Anr on 14 May 2020Therefore, in view of the above, it is evident that the prosecution has failed to make out a prima facie case for commission of offence punishable under Section 3 of SC & ST Act.
Moreover, the basic ingredients of the offence in the FIR are that there must be intentional insult, secondly the insult must be done in a public place within public view, which is not in the present case. Thus, the essential ingredients which must be fulfilled, are not found in the present case. Since these are the penal provisions, the same are to be given a strict construction and if any of the ingredients are found lacking, it would not constitute the offence under the SC/ST Act.
Since no offence under Section 3 of the SC & ST Act is found to be made out, the offence under Section 506 IPC read with Section 34 IPC, which stemmed out of the alleged offence under Section 3 of the SC and ST Act, is also not made out.