India, Aug. 20 -- The Supreme Court has held that an alleged casteist slur uttered inside a closed room, where no member of the public was present or able to hear it, cannot by itself constitute an offence committed "within public view" under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The court made the observation while quashing proceedings under the SC/ST Act against a school manager, ruling that the prosecution had failed to establish even a prima facie case that the alleged casteist abuse took place in circumstances satisfying the statutory requirement of public view.

What the Supreme Court said

A bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta was hearing an appeal against an...