Chambers of Ishaan Garg
Ch. No. 217, Western Wing, District & Sessions Court, Tis Hazari, New Delhi, Delhi 110054
+91 8851742417, +91 8800386163
Earlier, in the same judgment, dealing with the situation where oppression operated at an intersectional fashion, this Court held in
“54. The key words are “on the ground that such person is a member of an SC or ST”. The expression “on the ground” means “for the reason” or “on the basis of”. The above provision (as it stood at the material time prior to its amendment, which will be noticed later) is an example of a statute recognising only a single axis model of oppression. As we have discussed above, such single axis models require a person to prove a discrete experience of oppression suffered on account of a given social characteristic. However, when oppression operates in an intersectional fashion, it becomes difficult to identify, in a disjunctive fashion, which ground was the basis of oppression because often multiple grounds operate in tandem. {Para 41}
The Court notices in Patan Jamal Vali (supra) that the amendment has decreased the threshold of proving that the crime was committed on the basis of the caste identify to a threshold where mere knowledge is sufficient to threshold a conviction. The Court also noticed that presumption in Section 8 which provided that if the accused was acquainted with the victim or his family, the court shall presume that the accused was aware of the caste or tribal identity of the victim unless proved otherwise.
44. Reverting to the facts of this case, we find that there was no evidence to bring the case within the threshold of Patan Jamal Vali (supra). There is no evidence whatsoever to establish the fact that the victims caste identity was one of the grounds for the occurrence of the offence. In the absence of any evidence attracting the offence of Section 3(2)(v), we are constrained to record an acquittal for the appellant from the charge of Section 3(2)(v) of the 1989 Act. {Para 43}
REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. OF 2025
(@ SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (CRL.) NO. 17398/2024)
RAJU @ UMAKANT Vs THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH
Author: K.V. Viswanathan, J.
Citation: 2025 INSC 615.
Dated: 1 st May, 2025.
1. Leave granted
