No SC/ST Act Offence for Alleged Casteist Abuse Inside Private House

Source: Supreme Court

Why in News?

A Division Bench of the Supreme Court of India, comprising Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice NV Anjaria, in Gunjan @ Girija Kumari and Others v. State (NCT of Delhi) and Another (2026), allowed an appeal and quashed proceedings under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (SC/ST Act), against the appellants who were accused of hurling caste-based abuses against the complainant inside a private residential house. 

• The Court held that since the FIR did not disclose that the alleged incident occurred "in a place within public view" — an essential ingredient of offences under Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the SC/ST Act — the proceedings against the appellants were unsustainable.

What was the Background of Gunjan @ Girija Kumari and Others v. State (NCT of Delhi) and Another (2026) Case? 

• An FIR was registered against the accused persons on allegations that they attempted to break open the lock of the complainant's house and hurled caste-based slurs — including chura, chamar, harijan, and dirty drain — against him and his wife. The complainant and two of the accused were real brothers belonging to a Scheduled Caste community, while the wives of the accused belonged to non-SC/ST communities. 
• The Trial Court framed charges under Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the SC/ST Act against one of the accused, along with charges under Section 506 read with Section 34 of the IPC against all the accused. 
• The Delhi High Court declined to interfere with the order framing charges. 
• Before the Supreme Court, the appellants contended that the FIR itself failed to disclose the essential ingredient that the alleged incident occurred "within public view," as mandatorily required under the SC/ST Act.

What were the Court's Observations? 

• On the Essential Ingredient of "Public View": The Court held that to constitute an offence under Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the SC/ST Act, the act of hurling caste-based abuses must occur at "a place within public view." Even a private place may qualify, but only if the public has access to observe what is taking place there. A residential house, by its very nature, does not satisfy this requirement. 
• On the FIR in the Present Case: The judgment, authored by Justice Anjaria, examined the FIR closely and found that the alleged incident had taken place inside the complainant's residential premises — a location neither exposed to public gaze nor accessible to the public. The Court held that the essential requirement of the offence was conspicuously absent from the FIR. 
• On Quashing of Charges: Since the FIR did not disclose the commission of any offence under the SC/ST Act, the Court allowed the appeal and quashed the proceedings, holding that continuing the prosecution in such circumstances would be unsustainable.

What ST/SC (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989?

About the SC/ST Act:  

• SC/ST Act 1989 is an Act of Parliament enacted to prohibit discrimination against SC & ST communities' members and prevent atrocities against them.  
• The Act was passed in Parliament of India on 11th September 1989 and notified on 30 January 1990.  
• The Act is also a recognition of the depressing reality that despite undertaking several measures, the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes continue to be subjected to various atrocities at the hands of upper castes.  
• The Act has been enacted keeping in view the express constitutional safeguards enumerated in Articles 15, 17 and 21 of the Constitution of India, 1950 (COI), with a twin-fold objective of protecting the members of these vulnerable communities as well as to provide relief and rehabilitation to the victims of caste-based atrocities.  

SC/ST (Amendment) Act, 2015:  

• This Act was amended in the year 2015 for the purpose of making the act more stringent with the following provisions:  
  • Recognition was given to more instances of atrocities as crimes against SCs and STs.  
  • It added several new offences in Section 3 and renumbered the entire section since the recognized crime almost doubled.  
  • The Act added Chapter IVA Section 15A (the rights of victims and witnesses), and defined dereliction of duty by officials and accountability mechanisms more precisely.  
  • It provided for the establishment of exclusive special courts and special public prosecutors.  
  • In the context of public servants at all levels this Act defined the term willful negligence.  

SC/ST (Amendment) Act, 2018:  

• In the case of Prithvi Raj Chauhan v. Union of India (2020), the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of Parliament’s 2018 Amendment to the Prevention of Atrocities Act. The Salient features of this Amendment Act are as follows:  
  • It added Section 18A to the original Act.  
  • It delineates specific crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as atrocities and describes strategies and prescribes punishments to counter these acts.  
  • It identifies what acts constitute “atrocities” and all offences listed in the Act are cognizable. The police can arrest the offender without a warrant and start an investigation into the case without taking any orders from the court.  
  • The Act calls upon all the states to convert an existing sessions court in each district into a Special Court to try cases registered under it and provides for the appointment of Public Prosecutors/Special Public Prosecutors for conducting cases in special courts.  
  • It creates provisions for states to declare areas with high levels of caste violence to be “atrocity-prone” and to appoint qualified officers to monitor and maintain law and order.  
  • It provides for the punishment for willful neglect of duties by non-SC/ST public servants.  
  • It is implemented by the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations, which are provided due central assistance. 

Section 3(1)(r) of the SC/ST Act:  

• Section 3 of this Act deals with punishments for offences atrocities.  
• Section 3(1)(r) states that whoever, not being a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe intentionally insults or intimidates with intent to humiliate a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe in any place within public view shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to five years and with fine. 

Section 3(1)(s) of the SC/ST Act:

• This provision makes it an offence when a person who is not a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe abuses any member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe by caste name in any place within public view.