The Jharkhand High Court has cancelled a police case filed under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against a government officer. The court said the word “Adivasi” alone does not count as a legally recognised caste or tribe under the Act.
Justice Anil Kumar Choudhary said that to be protected under the SC/ST law, a person must belong to a specific caste or tribe listed in the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order or announced by the President of India.
The case was related to a complaint against Sunil Kumar, a government Settlement Officer. A woman named Sunita Marandi accused him of insulting her by calling her an “Insane Adivasi” when she tried to submit a Right to Information (RTI) application. She said he used rude language, behaved badly, insulted her, and pushed her out of his office.
But the court said the main claim was that the officer got angry and forced her to leave his office. There was no evidence that he used physical force in a serious way or tried to harm her modesty. So, the court ruled that the complaint didn’t meet the legal standards for more serious charges like Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code.
The court also looked at a government document that lists officially recognised tribes in Jharkhand. It said “Adivasi” is not listed there. Also, the FIR did not say that the woman belonged to any listed Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe. Because of this, the court agreed with the officer’s argument that the charges under the SC/ST Act were not valid.
There were also some minor charges under Sections 323, 504, and 506 of the IPC. But the court said these were not serious enough to continue the case.
The court added that the incident happened while the officer was doing his official job. It said allowing the case to continue would misuse the legal system. So, the FIR filed in Dumka in 2023 was officially cancelled and dismissed.
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