NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has granted anticipatory bail to a 55-year-old Kerala man accused of assault and caste-based abuse, rejecting the police’s claim that calling the complainant a “bastard” constituted a caste slur under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The top court bench questioned the Kerala police’s decision to invoke the SC/ST Act against the petitioner, calling it “rather surprising.” It observed that using the word “bastard” does not amount to a caste-based slur.

A two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice N.V. Anjaria, granted relief to the accused, Sishan alias Sidharathan, who had been booked by Kerala Police for allegedly stopping, threatening, and attacking a man with a chopper on April 16.

The police in the FIR (First Information Report), stated that the accused called the complainant a “bastard” before inflicting the injuries. The complainant sustained bleeding wounds on his arms while defending himself.

After the FIR was registered, the accused approached the Kerala High Court seeking anticipatory bail, but his plea was rejected on the ground that Section 18 of the SC/ST Act barred such relief. With no prior criminal record against him, he then moved the Supreme Court, challenging the High Court’s order.

Eventually, the Supreme Court granted anticipatory bail to Sidharathan, observing that the jurisdictional police appeared to have acted with undue zeal in invoking provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, an action that seemed to have influenced the High Court’s decision to deny bail.