P&H HC QUASHES IPC CHARGES AGAINST YUVRAJ SINGH BUT SC/ST CHARGES REMAIN THE SAME FOR "BHANGI" REMARK

The Punjab & Haryana High Court quashed the charges of sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups, acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) of the Indian Penal Code against former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh for using casteist slur 'bhangi'. 

The Court, however, refused to quash the first information report (FIR) relating to charges under the SC/ST Act, stating that the cricketer had used the term in a pejorative sense. The FIR under the SC/ST Act cannot be quashed since a person belonging to a Scheduled community can be hurt by such a word.

During an Instagram live with India captain Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh had used the word 'bhangi' to refer to Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal's antics at a wedding. Singh sought quashing of the FIR on the ground of locus standi and that the complainant misinterpreted the term.

Counsel for Yuvraj Singh argued that FIR is not maintainable since the complainant did not fall under the definition of 'victim' as per the Act, since he does not belong to the bhangi caste. Moreover, the cricketer used the term to refer to consumers of bhang (hemp). 

Counsel for the complainant contended that the complainant belonged to a Dalit community. And according to a survey, the term 'bhangi' is used to refer pejoratively to people of the Scheduled Caste community. He further said that Singh in his apology never mentioned that he had used the term to refer to hemp users. FIRs cannot be quashed merely based on an apology, especially since Singh never denied using the word.

The High Court held that the complainant was a victim as per the SC/ST Act. However, Singh "did not attempt to promote or intend to promote any disharmony by the usage of the phrase looking at the context in which it was used". Hence, IPC charges were quashed.

However, the ST/ST offenses were left to the police to determine if the ST/ST offenses were made out.