In a major relief to Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, the Rajasthan High Court on Thursday quashed a criminal case filed against her under the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The case had been registered in December 2017 at Churu Kotwali following a complaint accusing her of using casteist language during a 2013 TV interview with actor Salman Khan.
The complaint, filed in Churu, alleged that Shilpa Shetty had used a derogatory term that hurt the sentiments of people from the Valmiki community. The term in question was claimed to be offensive and casteist, leading to public outrage. Following this, a police case was lodged against Shetty for allegedly insulting the community.
In response to the FIR, Shilpa Shetty approached the Rajasthan High Court, seeking the cancellation of the case. Her lawyer, Prashant Patil, argued that Shetty had already issued a public apology for her remark, and that the statement had been distorted in the complaint. Patil further contended that the word used was not meant to insult anyone but was taken out of context.
The High Court accepted the defense and stated that there was no concrete evidence to support the allegations. The court concluded that the actress’s statement could not be interpreted as an intentional insult towards the community. It also ruled that the SC/ST Act did not apply to the case, as the alleged remarks lacked the intent to humiliate based on caste.
Court’s Analysis of the Word ‘Bhangi’:
The court acknowledged that while the term “bhangi” could be offensive in certain contexts, it could also be used in an unintended or colloquial manner. The court further examined the etymology of the word, noting that it is derived from the Sanskrit word “bhanga,” which means broken or fragmented, according to leading dictionaries.
The court found no merit in the complaint and concluded that it was an abuse of legal process. As a result, the FIR was quashed, and Shilpa Shetty was granted relief. The case, which had caused public controversy, has now been dismissed by the High Court.
এনেধৰণৰ অন্যান্য বা-বাতৰিৰ বাবে লাইক কৰক অসম লাইভ ২৪ ৰ ফেচবুক পেজ
