Mumbai, Aug 19 A special court here has sentenced a 32-year-old man to six months of rigorous imprisonment for making derogatory remarks against Dr B R Ambedkar and hurling casteist slurs at an advocate during an argument in October 2016.
The court rejected the defence's contention that there were no independent public witnesses or CCTV footage to establish the crime, noting the incident occurred on a street near residential buildings and a pan shop in public view.
Special Judge Y P Manathkar for cases under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on Tuesday found the accused, Shakil, guilty of offences under sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(v) of the Act.
These provisions pertain to specific criminal acts of atrocities committed by individuals who are not members of SC or ST communities against members of Scheduled Castes (SC) or Scheduled Tribes (ST).
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the accused.
The court, however, acquitted Shakil of charges under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) due to lack of sufficient evidence.
According to the prosecution, the incident occurred on the night of October 13, 2016, near RNA Colony, Vashinaka, in suburban Chembur.
The complainant, advocate Vinod Satpute, had parked his four-wheeler when the accused confronted him, hurled caste-based abuses, and demanded that he withdraw an earlier police complaint filed against him.
When Satpute refused, Shakil used highly offensive language against him and made derogatory comments about Dr Ambedkar, the prosecution said.
Following the incident, Satpute lodged an FIR at the RCF police station.
The defence argued that the allegations stemmed from personal enmity and that no independent public witnesses or CCTV footage had been produced.
The court rejected the defence's contentions, noting that the testimonies of the complainant and his brother were consistent and corroborated by the spot panchnama.
The incident occurred on a street near residential buildings and a pan shop, clearly establishing that the offence was committed within public view, the court said.
"In short, the factum of using insulting language against the informant based on his caste by the accused as well as making derogatory remarks against Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar by the accused on the above said date and time has been proved by the prosecution by adducing sufficient evidence," the court noted.
