Case under SC/ST Act against actor Shilpa Shetty over 2013 remark dismissed

In a relief to Shilpa Shetty, the Rajasthan High Court has cancelled a case filed against the actor under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which accused her of using a casteist slur in a TV show. In 2017, a complaint was filed against the 49-year-old actor alleging that she had used the word ‘bhangi’ in a 2013 TV interview, in which actor Salman Khan was also present.
According to the complaint that was filed in Churu, it was alleged that the word allegedly hurt the sentiments of the people belonging to the Valmiki community. The actor then approached the High Court, seeking cancellation of the FIR.
Shetty’s lawyer, Prashant Patil, told the High Court that the actor had already publicly apologised for her remark and that her statement was presented in a distorted manner. Accepting the argument, the court cancelled the FIR against her.
Justice Arun Monga heard the plea on November 18 and said the FIR did not indicate any accompanying evidence that Shetty intended to insult the Valmiki community with her remark, Bar and Bench reported.
“At the most, their interview statements, which appear to have been made casually, are being interpreted and taken totally out of context. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act requires that the accused must act with a specific intent to humiliate, insult, or harm members of the SC/ST community,” the court said.
The court also said that while the term ‘bhangi’ can be offensive in some contexts, it can also be used in an unintended or “alternatively colloquial manner”.
It analysed the word’s etymology and said it was derived from the Sanskrit word ‘bhanga’, which also means broken or fragmented, according to leading dictionaries.
“In another context, ‘bhanga’ also refers to cannabis or intoxicants, so someone consuming bhang could also be termed as ‘bhangi’. As per Oxford Hindi to English dictionary, ‘bhangi’ also means someone, who consumes bhang (Bhangar) or even ‘fraud’ or ‘trick’ or ‘disguise’ or even ‘peculiar or idiosyncratic behaviour’. As per Webster’s English dictionary alternative, the meaning assigned is a user of bhang. The interpretation of the term thus varies across regions,” Justice Monga said.
The High Court underlined that the intent of the remark should be judged based on the overall narrative and not just solely focus on treating the word in an offensive manner in one context.
It observed that celebrities and public figures often tend to speak in a casual tone during interviews, adding that one cannot lose sight of such realities, according to Bar and Bench.
Furthermore, the court also observed that statements made by celebrities and public figures were sometimes exaggerated by certain people to gain media attention.