The Bombay High Court on Monday granted pre-arrest bail to Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena leader Waman Mhatre in a case registered against him for allegedly making offensive remark against a journalist reporting on the Badlapur sexual assault case in August.
The court noted that “prima facie” offence was not made out under the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act as Mhatre was not aware or had no intention to comment against the complainant's caste (she belongs to an SC community).
“Prima facie, it does not appear that the said utterances were again intended only to humiliate the caste of the complainant. In my view, prima facie there is for holding that the offences under provisions of SC & ST Act are not made out against the Appellant (Mhatre),” Justice Sandeep Marne said.
The HC was hearing a plea filed by Mhatre challenging the August 29 sessions court order rejecting his pre-arrest bail.
The police booked Mhatre under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and also under the SC/ST Act for allegedly making derogatory remarks and gestures against the woman journalist during the August 20 protest at Badlapur railway.
Justice Marne observed that prima facie whether the gestures allegedly made by the former mayor of Badlapur would fit into the expression "gestures of a sexual nature" becomes questionable at this stage. “The exact gestures made by Appellant (Mhatre) are not reflected in the FIR statement, which merely alleges making of bizarre gestures,” the judge noted.
The court also said that the complainant was a mere acquaintance of Mhatre and prima facie it appears there was no reason for him to have prior knowledge that she belonged to a Scheduled Caste. “The FIR statement indicates that the concerned utterances and gestures are made by Appellant because he was perturbed by reporting of the incident by complainant and not because she belonged to Scheduled Caste community,” the judge underlined.
In the detailed order, the judge stressed that the FIR statement prima facie does not indicate that there was any intention on the part of the appellant to humiliate the caste of the complainant. “Therefore, it is doubtful at this stage whether the offence under the SC & ST Act could be made out against the appellant,” it said.
The journalist, who works for a Marathi daily, lodged a complaint on August 21 alleging that Mhatre made offensive remarks when she was reporting on the protest. Mhatre has, however, denied the scribe's claim and asserted he never uttered any derogatory remark as alleged by her.
