Casteist slurs on social media can attract SC/ST Act: What Calcutta HC said on ‘public view’

The Calcutta High Court has ruled that casteist slurs shared on social media platforms can fall under the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The court emphasized that the concept of "public view" under the law extends beyond physical spaces to include the digital domain.

In a case involving a member of a Scheduled Caste who alleged that casteist expletives were hurled at him on Facebook, the court set aside the Special Court's order dismissing the charges. The court stated that criminal jurisprudence examines each distinct criminal transaction and occurrence independently, and rejected the Special Court's reasoning as "perverse and contrary to the basic tenets of criminal adjudication".

The court also noted that the requirement of "public view" can be satisfied in the digital sphere, as the victim becomes "directly and constructively present" each time they access allegedly offensive content online. The case echoes a recent Supreme Court ruling, which stated that not every caste-related remark constitutes an offence under the Act, and that courts must carefully examine whether the statutory requirements are met.