JUDGEMENT
JOYMALYA BAGCHI,J. -
(1.) Proceeding registered in Suri P.S. Case No.448 of 2015 dated 17th December,
2015 under Section 323/427/379/506 of the Indian Penal Code and under Section 3(i)(iv)(v)(x) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention
of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (hereafter referred to as Act of 1989) has been assailed.
The allegations in the application under Section 156(3) of the Cr.P.C. which
were treated as F.I.R. in the instant case is to the effect that the defacto -
complainant and his family members are members of the Scheduled Caste
Community. It has been claimed that the family members of the defacto -
complainant were carrying on pisciculture in the pond in question for the last
50 years. On 20.3.2015 at about 8 A.M., the petitioners attacked the defacto - complainant and assaulted him and took away fishes from them. The
petitioners also abused the defacto -complainant by referring to their caste.
When the family members of the defacto -complainant objected, they were
further abused and it was stated that the petitioners shall not permit them to
enter the pond as they were members of low caste. The petitioners had also
threatened that they would kill and/or destroy fishes which were raised by the
defacto -complainant in the pond.
(2.) The petitioners have assailed the impugned proceeding, inter alia, on the ground that the uncontroverted allegations in the first information report do
not disclose the ingredients of the alleged offences. There is no averment in the
first information report that the petitioners are not members of the Scheduled
Caste and Scheduled Tribes Community and that the question of dispossession
of the defacto -complainant from the pond does not and cannot arise at all
inasmuch as they were not in possession of the pond at all and it was the
petitioners who were carrying on pisciculture in the said pond.
(3.) Mr. Ghosh appearing for the petitioner argued that a complaint was lodged against the defacto -complainant for committing theft in the said pond on
20.3.2015. He further drew my attention to the fact that although there was a lease executed in favour of the defacto -complainant to carry on pisciculture in
the pond in question but the said lease had expired long ago and since then
the petitioners themselves were carrying on such activity in the pond. It is also
brought to my notice that a pre -emption suit is pending by and between the
parties. In the backdrop of the aforesaid facts, it is submitted that the
allegations of dispossessing or preventing the defacto -complainant from
entering the pond on account of their caste appears to be patently absurd and
inherently improbable. Provisions of the Act of 1989 has been invoked to
harass and humiliate the petitioners particularly petitioner no.3 who is an
employee of Central Government. Reliance has to be placed on (2009) 1 SCC
(Cri) 446 (Gorige Pentaiah vs - State of Andhra Pradesh & Ors.) and 2013
(1) Supreme 257 (Ravinder Singh vs - Sukhbir Singh & Ors.);
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