Supreme Court Quashes Criminal Case Against DMK MP Under SC/ST Act

A bench comprising justices L Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose closed the criminal case against the lawmaker after holding that his speech did not fulfil the ingredients to attract the offenses for which he has been charged.

The Supreme Court Monday quashed the criminal proceedings initiated against DMK Rajya Sabha lawmaker RS Bharathi under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for a speech he made in 2020. A bench comprising justices L Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose closed the criminal case against the lawmaker after holding that his speech did not fulfil the ingredients to attract the offenses for which he has been charged. The top court took note of the submissions of senior lawyer Kapil Sibal and advocate Amit Anand Tiwari that no offence under the harsh Act was made out against the lawmaker. Entire reading of the speech showed that it was not derogatory to late Justice Varadrajan (a former Madras High Court judge) or intended to promote hatred against members of schedule castes, the bench said while allowing the appeal of the DMK leader.