No SC/ST Act Offence If Caste Abuse Occurs Inside Private House: Supreme Court Quashes Case

The Supreme Court of India has quashed criminal proceedings under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, holding that alleged caste-based abuses hurled inside a private house do not constitute an offence under the statute. The ruling in Gunjan @ Girija Kumari v. State (NCT of Delhi) (2026 INSC 468), delivered on 11 May 2026, reaffirms the statutory requirement that the offending conduct must occur in a place within public view for the provisions of the SC/ST Act to be attracted.

Background of the Case

The case originated from a family dispute over properties belonging to the late father of the parties. The complainant, belonging to the Scheduled Caste category, alleged that the appellants — who included family members from both Scheduled Caste and non-Scheduled Caste backgrounds — hurled caste-based abuses and subjected the complainant to intimidation inside the four walls of a house.

Charges were framed under Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the SC/ST Act, along with provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The Delhi High Court had upheld the framing of charges, prompting the appellants to approach the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court Ruling on the Public View Requirement

A Bench comprising Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice N.V. Anjaria examined the FIR and observed that it did not disclose that the alleged incident of abuse and intimidation occurred in a place exposed to public gaze. The Court held that the essential ingredient of the offence under the SC/ST Act — namely, that the conduct must take place in any place within public view — was conspicuously absent from the allegations.

The Bench set aside the Delhi High Court order and quashed all charges under both the SC/ST Act and the IPC, noting that the dispute was fundamentally a property dispute between family members and did not attract the special protections of the Atrocities Act.

Legal Significance of the Public View Element

Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act penalise the intentional insulting or intimidation of a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe with intent to humiliate in any place within public view. The consistent judicial position is that a private residence, unless it is established that the incident was visible or audible to members of the public, does not satisfy this requirement.

This ruling clarifies the boundaries of the Act, ensuring it is invoked where its statutory requirements are met and is not deployed as a tool in essentially civil or domestic disputes. For practitioners, FIRs must clearly articulate the spatial context of the alleged offence to sustain prosecution under the SC/ST Act.