only insult or intimidation is on account of victim belonging to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe is offence

the decision of
the Apex Court in Hitesh Verma v State of
Uttarakhand and another [(2020) 10 SCC 710], with
particular emphasis on paragraph 11 to 13
therein;
11. It may be stated that the chargesheet filed is for an offence under Section
3(1)(x) of the Act. The said section stands
substituted by Act 1 of 2016 w.e.f. 26-1-
2016. The substituted corresponding
provision is Section 3(1)(r) which reads as
under:
3. (1)(r) intentionally insults or
intimidates with intent to humiliate a
member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled
Tribe in any place within public view;
12. The basic ingredients of the offence
under Section 3(1)(r) of the Act can be
classified as (1) intentionally insults

or intimidates with intent to humiliate a
member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled
Tribe and (2) in any place within public
view.
13. The offence under Section 3(1)
(r) of the Act would indicate the
ingredient of intentional insult and
intimidation with an intent to humiliate
a member of a Scheduled Caste or a
Scheduled Tribe. All insults or
intimidations to a person will not be an
offence under the Act unless such insult
or intimidation is on account of victim
belonging to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled
Tribe. The object of the Act is to
improve the socio-economic conditions of
the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled
Tribes as they are denied number of civil
rights. Thus, an offence under the Act
would be made out when a member of the
vulnerable section of the society is
subjected to indignities, humiliations
and harassment. The assertion of title
over the land by either of the parties is
not due to either the indignities,
humiliations or harassment. Every citizen
has a right to avail their remedies in
accordance with law. Therefore, if the
appellant or his family members have
2023:KER:36002
Crl.Appeal No.906 of 2023
-7-
invoked jurisdiction of the civil court,
or that Respondent 2 has invoked the
jurisdiction of the civil court, then the
parties are availing their remedies in
accordance with the procedure established
by law. Such action is not for the reason
that Respondent 2 is a member of
Scheduled Caste.