PRAYAGRAJ: The Allahabad high court has observed that merely calling a person by the caste name does not constitute an offence under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act unless it is done with the intent to insult, humiliate, or demean the individual.Justice Santosh Rai passed the order while allowing a criminal appeal filed by Bareilly resident Vegraj Singh and quashing a summoning order issued against him under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) on March 21, 2025.The court, in its order dated Aug 13, observed, “Mere use of the word ‘Chamar’ will not, by itself, establish that the appellants used it with the intention or knowledge of insulting or humiliating the victim on the ground of her belonging to an SC/ST community.”An FIR alleging rape and intimidation was registered at Izzatnagar police station in Bareilly in 2024. Police filed a chargesheet against the main accused, Himmat Singh, but exonerated his father, Vegraj, and elder brother, Daulat, omitting their names from the chargesheet. During the trial, the survivor alleged that the accused had used the casteist slur “Chamar” against her, following which the trial court summoned Vegraj and Daulat to face trial.Challenging the order before the high court, the accused contended that the survivor had not assigned them any specific role in her statements recorded under Sections 161 and 164 CrPC with regard to the alleged casteist remarks.Relying on the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench judgment in Hardeep Singh vs State of Punjab, the high court reiterated that the power under Section 319 CrPC is extraordinary, must be exercised sparingly, and requires evidence stronger than a prima facie case.“In the absence of any reliable, sterling material or evidence pointing unmistakably towards the complicity of the appellant, the trial court erred in law by summoning the appellant under Section 358 BNSS in a casual and cavalier manner,” the court said.
