HC dismisses govt plea against discharge of 2 in casteism case | Goa News

Panaji: The high court of Bombay at Goa has dismissed a petition filed by Goa govt challenging the discharge of Assonora resident Manjiri Dhargalkar and Ponda special branch police inspector Devyani Naik, accused of abusing a woman with casteist remarks.Justice Valmiki Menezes said the sessions court correctly concluded that the ingredients of the offence the two were charged with did not exist. The two were discharged in Dec 2021 under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.The additional public prosecutor said the sessions court erred in discharging the accused in the April 2020 case, failed to appreciate the evidence of witnesses, and did not take into account the fact that the complainant’s surname was Gawade and not ‘Gaudi’. The specific word uttered would per se constitute an offence under the act, the prosecution said.In its ruling on Tuesday, the HC said the use of caste-related abuse must be substantiated by those who were in the earshot of the utterance. The complainant belongs to the Gauda community, which is a recognised scheduled tribe. The sessions court held that the word ‘Gaude’ cannot be considered abusive as it is a commonly used surname in Goa, and the complainant’s surname prior to marriage was Gaude.Calling the complainant ‘Gaudi’ in Konkani, apparently referencing the fact that she is a woman, cannot be considered an abusive word against her caste, the lower court had said.