Justice Saurabh Banerjee returned the prima facie finding while denying Bharti anticipatory bail in the case under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act [SC/ST Act].
The judge examined the video and its transcript containing the offending remarks by Bharti.
The Court said that the YouTuber repeatedly invoked caste identity and ideas of caste superiority and that his statement cannot be said to be general or reckless/stray remarks.
“They were clear references to caste, and explicit invocation of ideas of caste superiority prevalent in society, that too, with reference to the institution of marriage, which also represents age old notions of the hierarchy of the castes,” the Court said.
Justice Banerjee referred to Bharti’s remark that Azad would have to “make himself worthy enough” to seek the hand of a “savarna” woman and said the remark “otherised” Azad, suggesting caste hierarchy and superiority.
It also rejected the argument that the remarks were made by Bharti only after provocation by someone online.
“In any event, the same cannot act as a shield for the applicant to escape his doings, that too, whence he was well-aware of what he was saying/ doing. Be that as it may, the said ‘provocation’, if any, was not by the named individual. It is also nowhere the case of the applicant that he has subsequently issued any clarification/ explanation/ retraction/ apologies,” the Court added.