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Synopsis

The Supreme Court recently granted anticipatory bail to a man in a case lodged under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, finding that there was only one alleged instance of an insult/caste slur but there was no allegation that such offending statement was made in the presence of members of the general public, so the essential ingredients of the offence were not prima facie made out in the case.

A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Misra directed that in the event the appellant, Deepak Kumar Tala was arrested in connection with the FIR lodged at P.S. G.D. Nellore UPS on April 18, 2024, he should be released on bail subject to such terms and conditions as the trail court might deem fit to impose. 

"We make it clear that we have not expressed any opinion on the merits of the matter and that the observations made in our order will have no bearing on the conduct of the trial or on the final decision in the criminal proceedings," the bench said.  

The appellant challenged the order of November 18, 2024, passed by the high court, dismissing the plea against rejection of his application for anticipatory bail by trial court order on August 24, 2024.    

According to the FIR, the complainant belonged to a Scheduled Caste. The appellant set up a Trust for development of a temple along with the complainant and others, but forced him to transfer certain lands. Upon refusal, the appellant threatened to kill him, abused him with a caste slur, and asked him to stop reciting prayers.

On April 18, 2024, the complainant was abducted by various persons and taken to different locations where he was kept locked up for several days. 

On April 29, 2024, some accused persons took him to a petrol station and threatened him to transfer the temple’s lands in the appellant’s name or that they would kill him. Upon refusing, they beat the complainant with their hands and threatened him with small knives, which led him to agree to transfer the lands out of fear. Meanwhile, the complainant was rescued by the police and four accused persons were arrested.    

The FIR was lodged at P.S. G.D. Nellore UPS on April 18, 2024 under Sections 364, 511, 307, 343, 419, 506, 120B, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 3(1)(r), 3(1)(s), and 3(2)(va) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.  

"From a prima facie examination of the FIR, it is very clear that there is only one alleged instance of an insult/caste slur but there is no allegation that such offending statement was made in the presence of members of the general public. Hence, an essential ingredient for attracting Sections 2(1)(r) and 2(1)(s) of the SC/ST Act, i.e., that such statement must be made within “public view”, as held by this court in Shajan Skaria Vs State of Kerala (2024) is prima facie not made out from the FIR," the bench said.

The court also pointed out, further, an examination of the FIR also showed that the allegations regarding the appellant’s involvement in the alleged conspiracy for the complainant’s abduction and criminal intimidation were only inferential in nature, which could be established during trial.

The bench also noted the relationship between the parties, as evident from the FIR itself was that the appellant and the complainant were associated for a long time (since 2012) with the temple’s activities, for which a Trust was formed that named both of them as trustees. 

It was only in 2017 that certain disputes arose between them and multiple civil suits regarding the temple’s properties and funds were instituted by the appellant, the bench noted.

"In light of this overall perspective and considering the allegations in the FIR, our prima facie conclusion is that the appellant is entitled to anticipatory bail as per the principles laid down by this Court in Prathvi Raj Chauhan Vs Union of India (2020) and Shajan Skaria," the bench said.

Case Title: Deepak Kumar Tala Vs State of Andhra Pradesh & Ors