Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989–Sec. 3(1)–Intent is an essential ingredient for establishing offences related to insult, intimidation, and humiliation of a member of the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe–Conviction under this provision cannot be based solely on the occurrence of acts such as assault or force but also requires the proof that these acts were committed with the specific purpose of dishonuring or outraging the modesty of the victim–This legal safeguard pevents arbitrary or unjustified prosecution and aligns with the broader constitutional principles of fairness and justice–No mention or indication that the alleged atrocity was committed on the basis of the complainant’s caste status–Mother of prosecutrix turned hostile and the testimony of her father suggests that the accused had a lack of malicious intent or deliberate malice–Appellant is entitled to be acquitted.
